There has been an important change to the process of transferring money out of South Africa related to international investments and emigration.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has recently announced a change in the procedure for transferring more than R1 million out of the country when investing internationally or emigrating. The good news is that we are here to help you navigate these changes.
 

How do we help? 
As a globally integrated wealth management firm we are perfectly positioned to help you manage, protect, and grow your wealth locally and internationally. In addition to our international presence, host of international wealth management services to invest and bank your wealth, and a locally based international team of experts in South Africa, we have technical expertise across a range of disciplines to provide further support. While your primary contact is always your relationship manager or wealth manager, it is comforting to know that our fiduciary and tax experts help us all stay on top of legislative changes that affect you and your global wealth management. 

What do you need to know and do now?
In essence you need to prove that you are tax-compliant before you can transfer money internationally. To do this, you need a tax compliance status (TCS) PIN from SARS. 
 

How do you get a PIN from SARS?
SARS uses the TCR01 form to collect information from taxpayers who apply for a PIN to obtain their TCS letters, which would verify their tax compliance status online via SARS eFiling. An authorised dealer (AD) and/or the Financial Surveillance Department (FinSurv) within SARS must use this TCS PIN to verify tax compliance during the process of approving a funds transfer. It is important to remember that a taxpayer’s compliance status is not static and changes according to their continued compliance with tax requirements at the time of verification.

Your wealth manager can put you in touch with a professional tax and accounting service provider, such as Nedgroup Trust, to request the TCS PIN on your behalf.
If you would rather obtain the PIN independently, you can request it via eFiling or the SARS online query system that can be used by an AD and/or FinSurv to verify your tax compliance status when authorising fund transfers. If you are a non-resident, you are required to complete the SARS ‘cease to be a resident’ process before requesting your TCS PIN. 
 

When filling out the updated TCR01 form to obtain a TCS PIN, you will be required to provide the following additional information:

• Details for both local and foreign trusts, for trust beneficiaries.
• Details for both local and foreign shareholdings of 20% or more in legal entities.
• Details of both local and foreign loans.
• Source of the funds to be transferred.
• The statements of assets and liabilities for three years (for local and foreign separately).
• Details regarding type of international investment and country of investment where the majority of investment will be made.
• Supporting documents for the sale of crypto-assets.

If you have any questions or need clarity, we are here to help. Contact your wealth manager.