Expatriate taxpayers awaiting approval of their non-resident status may be surprised to discover that SARS can track their flights into and out of South Africa. Nikolas Skafidas Tax Diagnostic Specialist This is evident from the attached Request for Additional Supporting Documents letter, received by one of Tax Consulting SA’s clients. Here, SARS queries the reasons…
SARS introduced its Tax Non-Resident Confirmation letter in 2021, and it now appears that emigrated taxpayers, whose residency status was previously disclosed to SARS as non-resident, are now finding their status has been reset to ‘resident’. This may possibly have been due to a bug, or one arm not speaking to the other, when SARS…
A momentous event, held on 22 August 2022, drew a massive audience, comprising many well-known high net worth VIPs, senior SARS officials and officials from other African Revenue Authorities, tax heads in various capacities, top wealth managers, academics and other notable attendees. Hosted by the South African Institute of Taxation (SAIT), in collaboration with Tax…
The South African Revenue Service’s (“SARS”) focus on South Africans abroad was first revealed in the 2017 Budget Speech. Their reasons were only revealed in the pursuant Parliamentary debate, where in the Q&A session it was shared that National Treasury and SARS had been keeping a close eye on expatriate tax compliance. Nicolas Botha Compliance…
With discussions on imposing a wealth tax being rife in preceding years, policy makers are turning to the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) to look into the feasibility of this new proposed tax, to bridge the “ widest wealth gap in the world ”. Jashwin Baijoo Legal Manager, Africa Tax and Compliance This was seen…
Of late, digital news platforms have been awash with volumes of contradicting information regarding the Emigration Tax Compliance Status (TCS) PIN and SARS Non-Resident Tax Status Confirmation Letter. For the benefit of the taxpayers, more especially expatriates, we see it necessary to clarify the different uses and benefits of these two very important documents in…
South African expatriates living in Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man are under grave threat from the South African Revenue Service (SARS). This is according to Thomas Lobban, Legal Manager, Cross-Border Taxation at Tax Consulting South Africa, who recently presented sold-out seminars on each of the isles to build awareness of this danger. “None…
Expatriates, beware! If you ceased your tax residency through the Financial Emigration process, you may require substantial reasoning for your return to avoid any repercussions from the South African Revenue Service (SARS). Martin Bezuidenhout Expat Tax Attorney This is true if you successfully applied to SARS to be recognised as a non-resident for tax purposes…
An ITR-12 checkbox, indicating a taxpayer ceased tax residency in South Africa, is greyed out this tax season. This has confused many eFiling users wishing to leave the country permanently. “Which line do I tick to ensure that I am a non-tax resident?” asked one taxpayer. “The second option is blank for me. However, I…
With the introduction of a formal SARS Non-Resident Tax Status Confirmation Letter in 2021, South African expatriates may finally relax knowing that their foreign income is safe from local taxation. However, getting one of these is neither automatic nor easy, requiring applicants to follow stringent residency cessation and verification processes to qualify as non-residents for…
