New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[patches]

Just now, Wayne Potgieter said:

Looks like the price has risen nicely...

haha yeah, I'm safe from the couch... for now!

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

6 hours ago, patches said:

haha yeah, I'm safe from the couch... for now!

What was the price in mind before the auction, out of interest?

 

[patches]

On 5/20/2022 at 5:37 PM, Steven Knoetze (sk27) said:

What was the price in mind before the auction, out of interest?

 

I had a Buy Now of $9,990 listed for anyone quick to the party that didn't want to get into a bidding war.

Will be interesting to see if it exceeds that Buy Now price?! Most of the other things I have sold this way, exceed the Buy Now at auction.

[Wayne Potgieter]

On 5/23/2022 at 10:21 AM, patches said:

I had a Buy Now of $9,990 listed for anyone quick to the party that didn't want to get into a bidding war.

Will be interesting to see if it exceeds that Buy Now price?! Most of the other things I have sold this way, exceed the Buy Now at auction.

Looks like you got a tidy bit more than your original asking price there Patches...

[hayleyearth]

Who of you have NOT done financial immigration from SA?

If you have not financially immigrated, but also have no bank account there anymore with no income or expenses have you done SARS filing?

Have you even actually still logged into SARS?

 

If you have not financially immigrated and have bought a house here, what did you put on your "tax residence form" from the bank?

 

 

Urgh... I'm confused!

[patches]

35 minutes ago, hayleyearth said:

Who of you have NOT done financial immigration from SA?

If you have not financially immigrated, but also have no bank account there anymore with no income or expenses have you done SARS filing?

Have you even actually still logged into SARS?

If you have not financially immigrated and have bought a house here, what did you put on your "tax residence form" from the bank?

Urgh... I'm confused!

I haven't financially immigrated from SA, but I do still keep an account open there and put money into it (for family) each month.

About 2.5 years ago I contacted a financial emigration consultant to see what was required and their response indicated that for me, there wasn't much to do, as I have broken SA tax residency (different from financial financial migration)

Below is the email they sent me. Hopefully that clears things ups  a little: 

Quote

 

"[Previously], a South African tax resident is exempt from paying tax in SA on any money earned as an employee overseas if you are out the country for 183 full days in a 12-month period (of which at least 60 of those days must be consecutive).

However, [the new] amendment [which came] into force from March 1 2020 will affect certain South Africans who have moved or are working overseas. The government has proposed amending the legislation to the effect that money earned up to R1m per tax year will be exempt; any amount earned overseas over the R1m will be subject to possible taxation in SA.

If you are working or living overseas you should consider how this may affect your circumstances so as not to be caught out by this amendment.

Tax residency

The general rule is that anyone who considers SA their home is a South African tax resident. So, if you were born in SA and live in SA you will be a South African tax resident.

However, if you leave SA with the intention of moving permanently to another country, chances are that you are no longer tax resident in SA. This process is called breaking tax residency and is primarily determined by your state of mind. The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has, however, provided indicators to assist in determining whether you are tax resident or not. Some of these are as follows:

1. An intention to ordinarily reside in SA (most important consideration);
2. Your most fixed and settled place of residence;
3. Where you stay most often and your habits;
4. Your place of business and personal interests; and
5. Employment and economic factors.

In other words, if you leave SA with the intention of moving permanently to another country and subsequently settle in that country, it is likely that you have broken tax residency with SA.

If you have broken tax residency with SA, you don't need to worry about the amendment to the tax legislation.

It must be kept in mind that when you break your tax residency there is a deemed capital gains event (meaning that even if you do not sell assets, you are still liable for capital gains tax) on some assets held. Immovable property is not subject to this deemed event; the most common types of assets that affect individuals are shares held.

Proving you've broken tax residency

It is now important to determine how you can prove to Sars that you have broken tax residency so that the proposed amendments do not affect you.

Whether you're a tax resident in SA primarily depends on your state of mind, which can be difficult to prove. This is where Sars' factors become important.

If you're able to show Sars that your new home and economic and personal ties (among others) are in the new country, you should be able to prove you have broken tax residency.

You can also submit a tax return to Sars indicating you have broken residency - this is an option on the first page of your tax return. In addition, there are documents signed between countries called double taxation agreements (DTA). These give taxing rights to the signatory countries to the document. For example, SA has signed a DTA with the UK. If you're a resident of the UK in terms of the provisions in the DTA, you can't be a tax resident in SA.

If you’re unsure about your tax residency status, you should speak to a qualified tax advisor. This will ensure all your tax affairs are in order and that you are compliant before the new law is implemented next year.

Formal/financial emigration 

The concept of formal/financial emigration is separate from breaking tax residency. It is an exchange control concept and is dealt with by the South African Reserve Bank.

You may wish to formally emigrate, but don't have to. This involves an application to the bank and will result in all your South African funds being transferred into an 'emigrant's capital account'. Only the bank that has opened the account can deal with the funds.

However, if you've left the country it is not necessary for you to formally emigrate. It has no effect on your tax residency, although it can also be used as an indicator to Sars that you've broken tax residency.

There are a couple of instances where you must formally emigrate:

1. If you have a retirement annuity in SA that you wish to liquidate (unless you're already 55 in which case you don't need to formally emigrate); and
2. If you have more than R10m you wish to take out of SA.

Your citizenship is not affected by formal emigration and you get to keep your South African passport.

Effect on South African assets

Breaking tax residency has no effect on your assets (besides from the deemed capital gains event). However, if you're earning income from these assets, you must declare it to Sars and may be subject to taxation depending on the amount earned and type of income.

When you formally emigrate all your SA assets will be transferred into an emigrant's capital account with your bank. For example, if you have cash in bank accounts, these accounts must be closed, and the money transferred to the emigrant's capital account. 

If you have a retirement annuity that is liquidated, the money must be paid into this account. You must get approval from your bank when dealing with these assets once they are in the emigrant's capital account.

You are still entitled to keep any immovable property that you own in SA, but the title deed must probably be marked that the property is now owned by a non-resident. If this property is subsequently sold, the proceeds must also be paid into the account. On a final note, if you are a South African citizen working abroad temporarily and don't break tax residency, any tax that is paid in the country where you are working should be set off against any tax that is owed in SA on this foreign income. 

If you would like to proceed with placing your emigration on record with SARB, we will be happy to assist you. In order for us to do an initial review and provide you with a quote for our service, please can you complete the attached Financial Emigration Questionnaire. There are 3 separate tabs on the spreadsheet to complete. The financial emigration process and repatriation of funds can be somewhat complex so it is really helpful to have as much information as possible when evaluating the best course of action to take."

 

 

[davetapson]

Tax residency is based basically on your intention to be ordinarily resident in SA. 

Given Covid and not leaving NZ for years, and that you've emigrated, that's currently a given. 

Should you decided to go back and live and work six months a year, then things will get more complicated.

You can still log in to eFiling and file returns etc with no bank acc.

https://www.sars.gov.za/individuals/cease-to-be-a-resident/


For those that are interested in financial emigration:



In my 2019 tax yr return on eFiling I said 'no income from x date' reason 'emigrated to NZ'.  Uploaded visa / passport entry stamp.

Done.  I had previously emptied out everything from there to here.


They owe me a decent refund.  They said they will pay it to my NZ bank account, but part of the deal is that I have 'to remove my bank accounts from eFiling, and set my address post codes to 0000'.

You can remove your bank accounts from eFiling website, but they remain on SARS MobiApp.  So as far as they are concerned, I have not 'removed my bank accounts'.  There is no way to remove them on the MobiApp - you can add or change, no delete.

So currently in a cycle of "I've removed my bank accounts, look, here is a screen shot of the website" "You need to remove your accounts from eFiling." all at a 21 day cycle which is their SLA.

My last mail was "Please remove my accounts from MobiApp."   I'm waiting to see what the comeback is on that.

I used to merely loathe SARS, now I really, really, hate them.

Edited June 13, 2022 by davetapson

[davetapson]

Made it past the Winter equinox peeps... things can only get better...

 

[davetapson]

That said, this from my daughter who was running at Campbell's Bay this morning...

 

[patches]

15 hours ago, davetapson said:

Made it past the Winter equinox peeps... things can only get better...

 

haha Just yesterday I was looking at the daylight hours graph, wondering how much we gain each week until glorious daylight savings times are back.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/new-zealand/auckland

Weather wise though... it's likely that the worst is yet to come. August (even parts of September) can be downright miserable in the AKL.

[patches]

Anyone else noticed the increased advertisement efforts to lure kiwis to Western Australia?

Not just a tourism campaign, but to live. Higher salaries, lower housing prices, and cheaper cost of living does make it attractive. Oh yeah, and they have Mochachos in Perth!

Almost tempting, if the landscape wasn't so flat and beige and it didn't "feel like Randfontein", a term a friend used on our trip there 2.5yrs ago. (No disrespect to anyone from Randfontein. I lived in Klerksdorp once upon a time so cannot judge).

Edited June 27, 2022 by patches

[davetapson]

Yeah, it's a deathly time of year, equivalent of Feb in the UK.

Days are getting longer but it's still getting colder.

A girl who was working with my wife left for GC for greener pastures (they had been living in Mangawhai commuting to Long Bay couple times a week because rent was cheaper there...)

It hasn't worked out as expected - houses apparently expensive because of the floods(?), husband has not been able to find work... 

[Wayne Potgieter]

3 hours ago, davetapson said:

Yeah, it's a deathly time of year, equivalent of Feb in the UK.

Days are getting longer but it's still getting colder.

A girl who was working with my wife left for GC for greener pastures (they had been living in Mangawhai commuting to Long Bay couple times a week because rent was cheaper there...)

It hasn't worked out as expected - houses apparently expensive because of the floods(?), husband has not been able to find work... 

A good SAFFA mate of mine just went over to Perthfontein to do a look see decide. He currently lives in Half Moon Bay Auckland.

 

Long story short, he has just bought the new build site 4 houses over from me in Millwater.

[eibmoZ]

Hi gang, question for those here in NZ. Hope some one has been through this.

I am a resident ( not PR yet).

if i take a job with a ausie company it should have no impact on my residency right? If i stay in NZ and work remotely. And no, moving there is not a option as my wife says she is not moving again:)

i assume there would be some tax implications ( possibly).

 

 

[patches]

2 hours ago, eibmoZ said:

Hi gang, question for those here in NZ. Hope some one has been through this.

I am a resident ( not PR yet).

if i take a job with a ausie company it should have no impact on my residency right? If i stay in NZ and work remotely. And no, moving there is not a option as my wife says she is not moving again:)

i assume there would be some tax implications ( possibly).

I asked my wife (she's the head of global mobility for a large NZ corporate) and she said (as suspected): "no immigration issues if the individual isn't physically working in Australia", and that "tax implications are dependent on the individuals remuneration arrangement with the employer".

(Disclaimer: She's not an immigration adviser so takes no responsibility, hahaha)

Considering the massive uptake in remote working in the last 2 years, and the generally higher salaries in Australia, this is a whole other avenue of poaching NZ based talent.

[patches]

On 6/28/2022 at 1:12 PM, Wayne Potgieter said:

A good SAFFA mate of mine just went over to Perthfontein to do a look see decide. He currently lives in Half Moon Bay Auckland.

Long story short, he has just bought the new build site 4 houses over from me in Millwater.

We have some close friends (originally from Perth) moving back. Family, house prices, and salaries are the biggest drivers.

He's an engineer but decided to leave consulting and do his teachers degree, and although teachers salaries here are vastly higher than SA , they are still a fair bit lower than Australia (especially for graduate teachers).

Being from Perth they also struggle to get their heads around the $1.2m+ house pricing in Auckland. they've showed us what $800k in Perth gets one and it's almost tempting.

(That said, the mental jump for us Saffers is way bigger. Imagine a R12m house in an SA equivalent suburb... seems completely absurd and out-of-reach).

They have admitted that as a city they prefer Auckland, and Perth does feel isolated from the rest of Aus. But after a 5yrs "OE" they are returning home (for a bit).

My wife (Aussie) has hinted at the prospect of an Aussie stint for us, once I get my NZ citizenship (aka 2nd class Aussie residency). But that would more likely be to "Seed-nee' (the kiwi pronunciation) as he family is there, and anything more than 3hrs away means we may as well stay in NZ (borders remaining open and all that).