Atjan Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 I've been reading about the retirement reforms that have been signed into law in good ol' SA. I searched a bit but could not find anything related to immigration. Am I just paranoid that this new law might make it more difficult to get your entire pension out of SA come the time? Or does the old rule still apply that if you immigrate you get all your pension savings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlothian Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 (edited) Prior to 2008 you Retirement Annuities couldn't be taken out. The law changed to allow you to take your retirementannuities out when you immigrate but a formal financial emigration process is required. Edited January 20, 2016 by Jordy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurferMan Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 They are really getting desparate now. Why the heck stop people from taking their money? They spent their lives building it up and now they cant have it. WTH?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FingersCrossed Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 I stand to be corrected, however my understanding is that the new laws prevent individuals from taking their company pension in full when they resign from their job. They are only allowed to take 1/3 out in cash and 2/3 has to be invested so as to provide a monthly payment. I think the government is trying to stop individuals from resigning, taking their pensions and spending it all on unnecessary stuff thereby leaving them broke and dependent on the government. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlothian Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 (edited) The South African Revenue Services implemented a law change in July 2008 which states that anyone who has formally emigrated (obtained a tax clearance, reserve bank approval and opened a blocked account) would be able to access 100% of their investments. Edited January 21, 2016 by Mara Removed advertising Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugo2 Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) The new tax amendment law that was passed may just have removed, from the income tax act, the reference to formal emigration See (zD) the substitution of (dd)(A) - you only need to become tax non-resident. So I asked: what about the SARB process and the green bar coded ID or foreign passport rules? They said misplaced question henceforth only ONE of the processes need to be completed! Watch this space. We await the SA Reserve Bank's new rules. Do note that although pension lump sums may no longer be encashed, pension payouts received is freely remittable Comment: The 2015 Draft TLAB amends the definition of “retirement annuity fund:” to allow for withdrawal from retirement funds by expatriates when these expatriates: cease to be tax resident; or when they leave South Africa at the end of the work visa; or when they leave South Africa and were not regarded as resident by the South African Reserve Bank for purposes of exchange control. The proposal requires the application of three different pieces of legislation and three different regulatory bodies (i.e. the South African Revenue Service, the South African Reserve Bank and the Department of Home Affairs) and would be overly burdensome to the taxpayer. [SARS] Response: Misplaced. The criterion in the legislation does not need all three options to be satisfied. If one condition is met, that would be sufficient. Edited January 26, 2016 by Hugo2 grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugo2 Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 The new tax amendment law that was passed removed, from the income tax act the reference to formal emigration See (zD) the substitution of (dd)(A) - you only need to become tax non-resident. So I asked: what about the SARB process and the green bar coded ID or foreign passport rules? They said misplaced question henceforth only ONE of the processes need to be completed! Watch this space Comment: The 2015 Draft TLAB amends the definition of “retirement annuity fund:” to allow for withdrawal from retirement funds by expatriates when these expatriates: cease to be tax resident; or when they leave South Africa at the end of the work visa; or when they leave South Africa and were not regarded as resident by the South African Reserve Bank for purposes of exchange control. The proposal requires the application of three different pieces of legislation and three different regulatory bodies (i.e. the South African Revenue Service, the South African Reserve Bank and the Department of Home Affairs) and would be overly burdensome to the taxpayer. [SARS] Response: Misplaced. The criterion in the legislation does not need all three options to be satisfied. If one condition is met, that would be sufficient. Paragraphs (zD) of subsection (1) come into operation on 1 March 2016 and apply in respect of years of assessment commencing on or after that date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atjan Posted January 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Thanks for your detailed reply Hugo2. Just to see if I'm clear: Once you get your visa, you can get a tax directive from SARS and you can instruct the institutions holding your provident/pension/RA funds to release the funds in full to you, subject to the tax payable to SARS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugo2 Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 4 minutes ago, Atjan said: Once you get your visa, you can get a tax directive from SARS hi VISA is not adequate you must be tax resident in the other country, so it appears you need to be out o SA, already have a new tax no in your new home country, probably hold TRC (tax residency certificate) - but then your guess as good as mine, we await instructions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atjan Posted January 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Thanks again. Quite the mission it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurferMan Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 So glad I have left that place... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackoFam Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 (edited) Will be watching this thread to see how it unfolds. Thanks for the info @Hugo2 Edited January 27, 2016 by JackoFam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimeToGo Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 On 26/01/2016 at 4:50 AM, Hugo2 said: you only need to become tax non-resident. Does this mean you do not need to formally emigrate, and SARS will not consider you to have formally emigrated? Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugo2 Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 Hello SARS has never had a status formally emigrated - SARB status updated you to formal emigrant. Henceforth formal emigration will be for those who really need to formally emigrate and not for people with RA funds only 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsta Posted February 7, 2016 Report Share Posted February 7, 2016 The changes sound amazingly sensible on the surface. This from a country that gave my local policeman his first opportunity to do ink fingerprints! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan83 Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 On 27/01/2016 at 6:00 PM, SurferMan said: So glad I have left that place... You do realise, though, that Australia has much stricter rules regarding withdrawing your super. Unless you're on a temporary visa, you can never withdraw your super until you reach pension age. Even if you formally emigrate from Australia. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimeToGo Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 I've just googled requirements for proving your tax residence and found the following blog: https://www.10x.co.za/blog/non-residents-how-to-claim-your-south-african-ra-fund/. This article concurs with your advice Hugo. How the withdrawal gets taxed is the next hurdle to deal with... Do you think it would be non-taxable if transferred into an Australian Super Fund? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurferMan Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 Yeah true Dono, But at least my money will still have a chance of being worth something! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan83 Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 7 hours ago, SurferMan said: Yeah true Dono, But at least my money will still have a chance of being worth something! Amen to that! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurferMan Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 Bog roll with Kin Jong Juju Un III anyone? Printed in Billion dollar single ply, or 100 Trillion, double ply...LOL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippi Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 If you’re a South African living overseas you can now turn your retirement annuity into cash and transfer the funds to your new home before the age of 55. We use cashkows.com to help us with our transfer. I highly recommend Mariette! You can email her with all your questions...mariette@cashkows.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimeToGo Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Hi Lizelle, did you need to pay tax on the payment from the retirement annuity? I've also heard that doing this through cashkows is hugely expensive. What did they charge you, as a percentage of the money you had paid out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugo2 Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 4 hours ago, TimeToGo said: Hi Lizelle, did you need to pay tax on the payment from the retirement annuity? I've also heard that doing this through cashkows is hugely expensive. What did they charge you, as a percentage of the money you had paid out? Morning, none of the service providers charge a percentage of the cash paid out, our professional rules does not allow this. Fees are based on the nature of the assets held and do note the rules changed on 8 Jan 2016. The fees paid last year can no longer be compared to this year. Formal emigration through the SARB is no longer a requirement with the result the overall fees will decline as the RA encashment is now detached from the formal migration process. In the past you had to deal with the SA Trust before you could exit your RA value, this is no longer the case. Thus not fair to slate someone for huge fees others may have paid. It is a unique process and yes Cashkows may not be the cheapest in the market, yet they are not charging a fixed fee. No one applies that rule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippi Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 7 hours ago, TimeToGo said: Hi Lizelle, did you need to pay tax on the payment from the retirement annuity? I've also heard that doing this through cashkows is hugely expensive. What did they charge you, as a percentage of the money you had paid out? TimeToGo, yes we did pay tax but the refund they got for us made up for there fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimeToGo Posted February 18, 2016 Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 Hi, @Hugo2 You seem to know something about this. My main aim is to move my RAs over here without further depleting their value. Would you know if there is any way one could effect such a transfer without having it taxed in SA? In the same way that I would be able to do a transfer from one RA to another in SA without having tax deducted, I'd like to transfer my RA from SA to a retirement funding vehicle here in Aus (or any other 1st world country!!). Is there any way to do that? And just to put the record straight, I asked Lizelle about fees as a percentage of the money paid out, not because that's how the charge is calculated, but because I didn't want Lizelle to disclose too much info about how much her payment was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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