News

Planning to Emigrate in the New Year? Start Preparing Now Before the Festive-Season Slowdown Hits As the year draws to a close, many South Africans begin preparing for international relocation at the start of the new year, yet the administrative side of emigration, particularly ceasing South African tax residency is often more complex than anticipated. […]

SARS Will Soon Know About Every Foreign Property You Own — Are You Prepared? The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is about to gain unprecedented visibility into your offshore life. A new global tax agreement means SARS will soon automatically receive detailed information about every foreign immovable property owned by South African taxpayers across more

How SARB’s New Rules Affect the Transfer of South African-sourced Income Abroad At the end of October 2025, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) introduced material changes to the processing of cross-border income transfers. While intended to reinforce compliance and enhance alignment between SARB and the South African Revenue Service (SARS), these measures mean that

National Treasury Withdraws Controversial Proposal to Remove Tax Exemption on Foreign Pensions, Opts for Broader Consultation The National Treasury has for now abandoned its highly contested proposal to remove the tax exemption for foreign pensions applied to South African tax residents. This follows a robust public participation process where several role players warned of the

Tax Season May Be Over, But South African Expatriates’ SARS Work Might Not Be With the 2025 tax submission season now behind us, many South Africans living abroad may believe their tax obligations are settled for the year. However, for expatriates whose records at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) still reflect them as South

Parliament Heard: Foreign Pensions Tax Could Deter Wealthy Retirees, Returning Expatriates and Investment The proposed removal of the tax exemption on foreign retirement funds for South African tax residents could have far-reaching negative consequences, including deterring wealthy foreigners and expatriates from choosing South Africa as a retirement destination, discouraging return migration, and scare off global

Hidden Danger of Under-Declaring Income: Why Expats May Be More at Risk Without Knowing It “In terms of the Tax Administration Act, the accused is obliged to submit tax returns for assessment by a specific return date. The accused failed to submit 4 Personal Income Tax returns. Now, therefore the accused is guilty on 4

Outdated SARS Security Details Could Lock South African Expatriates Out of the System Many South Africans living abroad do not realise that outdated contact information such as old mobile numbers or inactive email addresses on the South African Revenue Service (SARS) system, can block access to their eFiling profile, often with serious consequences. READ MORE

Think You’re Safe Abroad? SARS Says Otherwise According to the 2025 Henley Private Wealth Migration Report, South Africa is projected to lose approximately 250 dollar-millionaires this year alone. Despite this continued outward migration of high-income individuals, the number of taxpayers formally ceasing tax residency with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to protect their worldwide

SA Non-Tax Residency – The Rush Must Not Foreshadow Precision With the 2025 annual tax filing season deadline fast approaching, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has quickly tightened its verification processes for taxpayers requesting to update their tax residency status to that of non-resident on a more urgent basis than they would have liked.