As the year draws to a close we would like to take this time to remind our clients that as a South African resident you only have a few weeks left to make use of your annual offshore allowance limits ahead of the December 2022 deadline.

SARS processing times do stagnate towards the end of the year which could ultimately prevent you from making the most out of your current allowance limitations. In our experience, if you haven't submitted your tax clearance application by the first week of November, the chances of getting approval are quite slim.

We would therefore like to encourage our clients wanting to still utilise their foreign investment allowance to please send us applications as soon as possible*. This is due to the current slow turn around time we are already experiencing at SARS.

* Please note that FTCC's are usually obtainable within six weeks, however due to current delays at SARS this process time cannot be guaranteed.

Understanding your offshore allowance limitations:

As a South African resident, you are subject to certain exchange control regulations:
Every South African resident over the age of 18 years is entitled to a single discretionary allowance (SDA) of up to R1 million per calendar year. This allowance can be used for any legitimate purpose at your own discretion, including gifts to friends or family living abroad, making online purchases of goods denominated or sold in a foreign currency, or investing in offshore investments. To make use of your single discretionary allowance, all you need is a valid green bar-coded South African identity document or smart identity card. If you have a partner, you can together transfer up to R2 million (R22 million in total).
In addition to your single discretionary allowance, every South African resident over the age of 18 years is also entitled to a foreign investment allowance (FIA) of up to R10 million per calendar year. This can be used to purchase property in foreign countries, invest amounts exceeding R1 million, and for transfers for other purposes where you may have already exceeded you R1 million SDA. In order to make use of your FIA, you’re going to need a Foreign Tax Clearance (FTCC) from SARS. This certificate is valid for 12 months and it allows you to transfer up to R10 million. As part of our foreign exchange service, we are able to apply for your FTCC on our clients' behalf free of charge, greatly reducing the amount of time you will have to wait for your certificate.

Final trading dates for 2022 allowances:

Just a reminder that in order for your annual allowances to be allocated within 2022's calendar year, exchange rates will need to be booked by our trading desk by close of business of 27 December (Tuesday). Any bookings made after this will be deemed as part of next years' annual allocation.

CAPTA Forex online onboarding platform:

Last year CAPTA Forex launched its 100% paperless online registration platform which now means that as an individual or a company you can now register for currency transfers or tax clearances from anywhere across the globe.

Our exclusive online portal is available for individuals or corporates via our website using the following links:

https://staging.staging.captafx.co.za/personal-registration/
https://staging.staging.captafx.co.za/corporate-registration/

Whether you are looking at moving funds into or out of South Africa, CAPTA Forex has become the solution to all your foreign exchange affairs.