The individual annual foreign capital and discretionary allowances are currently available for natural persons who are:

taxpayers in good standing; and
over the age of 18 years.

Each individual may invest an amount of up to R11 million (R10 million foreign capital allowance and a R1 million discretionary allowance) per calendar year offshore.

Natural persons are regarded as South African Tax residents if they are domiciled or registered in South Africa for income tax (for example if they were born in South Africa and lived in the country all their life) or foreign nationals who have taken up permanent residency in South Africa and have been living in the country for more than five years.

From a Tax interpretation we would say that a Natural person who is a South African Tax resident can apply for this allowance.

You can also be considered a Natural person but yet be a Non-resident for Tax purposes.

South African residents are subject to exchange control restrictions and can therefore only invest in offshore assets such as foreign unit trusts within certain restrictions set by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB).

Legal entities
Trusts
Partnerships
Foundations
Clubs
Natural persons under the age of 18 years.
Natural persons who are South African tax Resident but are not in good standing.
Natural person in South Africa who is Non-resident for Tax purposes.

It depends. Investors wishing to externalise rands under their annual discretionary allowance of up to R1 million per calendar year do not need to obtain approval for international transfer from SARS.

The discretionary allowance can be used for any legal purpose abroad and must include any travel spend abroad in foreign currency from South Africa e.g., credit card expenditure. Investors can also utilise their annual foreign capital allowance of up to R10 million per calendar year subject to obtaining approval from SARS.

An AIT is valid for a period of 12 months from date of issue and once expired or fully utilised, you will need to apply for a new approval.

Applications for amounts greater than R10 million require the same aforementioned 'letter of compliance' from SARS and a special approval application to be made with the SARB. There is no limit on the size of these applications for individuals.

SA Bullion can assist with this process by introducing you to our expert tax practitioner who will be able to obtain the necessary approval on your behalf.

Applications must be lodged via SARS eFilling, unfortunately at present there is no fixed pattern, anything from 3 weeks to 12 weeks.
In both instances, we highly recommend you get assistance from our expert tax practitioner who offer this service, or from your accountant or tax advisor who are familiar with these applications and their requirements.

You can transfer a maximum of R11 million (R10 million foreign capital allowance and a R1 million single discretionary allowance) per calendar year from South Africa.

It is also possible to transfer amounts greater than this subject to a special approval application with the (SARB).

No, you can transfer in tranches under a valid approval which still has capacity and has not yet expired.

If you intend using the same bank or specialist currency service provider for future transfers, you may request them to keep a copy of your AIT certificate on your behalf.

The original certificate is required by the bank/authorised dealer, handling your transfer.

If you are using a specialist currency service provider, they will manage this for you.

Yes, the allowances are granted per calendar year and expire on 31 December without any carry-forward on un-used amounts.

You will receive a new annual allowance on 1 January each year.

Yes. provided this is not viewed as a scheme of arrangement to bypass exchange control restrictions.

It is generally permissible to borrow funds from another family member (such as a parent or spouse) or even a family trust.

If you have any doubts about a particular loan, please obtain an opinion from your banker or financial advisor.

It is however important to note that the lender becomes a party to the AIT application and will also be required to be fully tax compliant and their tax details will also be required.

The SARB maintains a database of all transfers made by all individuals via all banks since the implementation of this allowance in 1996.

You, the applicant not (SA Bullion International, SARS, your bankers, advisors or SARB) are however ultimately responsible for not exceeding the limit.

You may be fined between 20% and 40% of the excess transfer amount if you inadvertently exceed the limit. This penalty range, however, only applies if you approach the SARB’s Financial Surveillance Department (FSD) first.

Otherwise, the full amount in excess of the limit could be confiscated. If you are uncertain regarding a proposed transfer resulting in a breach of your annual limit, carefully check your records.

A last resort is to apply to the FSD to check your records.

Yes you can, although it is our hope that our business model gives you the comfort of secure storage and the ability to create liquidity whenever needed.

A vault charge of $230 is levied on an extraction. No further reporting to SARS is required once you have externalized the funds.

Noting that R1 million is done via your discretionary allowance (SDA), while amounts up to R10 million will be done as a foreign capital allowance (FCA) via the Approval for international transfer process (AIT).

No, the funds do not need to be returned to SA,they have been externalized and can be transferred to wherever you require.

SA Bullion International contracts with Brinks Global Facility for the storage, insurance, and safe keeping of the Precious Metals globally.

We receive daily balances confirming the custodian holdings in these locations and quarterly independent checks are carried out by our Auditors.

All goods are insured under Brinks Global Facility storage agreement and the insurance is underwritten by Lloyds of London.

As per above the SA Bullion International contracts with Brinks Global Facility for the storage, insurance, and safe keeping of the Precious Metals globally.