Cut the cord: What to consider when formally breaking your tax ties with South Africa

It is estimated that more than 1mn South Africans are currently living abroad. Yet according to SARS’ own data, fewer than 52,000 individuals have formally ceased their South African tax residency. This discrepancy has not gone unnoticed. SARS is directing increasing attention toward the tax leakage arising from South Africans resident offshore, and regulatory scrutiny is intensifying.

At the same time, widespread confusion remains around what steps are required when leaving South Africa, both from a tax and an exchange control perspective. Many individuals assume that relocating is sufficient to cease tax residency. In reality, without formally doing so, South African tax obligations may continue indefinitely with consequences that can include unexpected double tax exposure and, for children of South Africans abroad, difficulties accessing local inheritances.

We invite you to join an exclusive webinar where well-known South African personal financial planner, media personality, and director of BHCA, Bryan Hirsch, will host a session where Michael Kransdorff, a leading South African international tax and exchange control specialist from the Institute for International Tax and Finance, will unpack these issues.

The topics to be discussed in the webinar include:

When and how South African tax residency ceases
Common misconceptions around “financial emigration”
The interaction between tax residency and exchange control
Risks of non-compliance and increasing SARS scrutiny
Practical steps for South Africans abroad and their families
The treatment of funds left to children abroad, including the implications depending on whether those children have emigrated and the steps they should take to ensure capital can flow freely

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