Frequently Asked Questions

The Single Discretionary Allowance (SDA) permits South African resident individuals aged 18 and older to transfer up to R2 million per calendar year to Australia without tax clearance. In addition, up to R10 million a year can be remitted under the Foreign Investment Allowance with tax clearance (also called an ‘Approval for International Transfer’). Remitting larger amounts is also possible, and these flow under a SARB (South African Reserve Bank) approval.

MyGlobalCFO leverages our deep tax and exchange control expertise to plan best use of your exchange control allowances, facilitate both the SARS and SARB applications in-house, and save you money relative to normal bank transfer when remitting the funds to Australia.

Those that have ceased tax residency generally need tax clearance (AIT) to remit Retirement fund proceeds and Emigrant Cash savings to Australia, but there are exceptions (like in the case of inheritances) where we may be able to assist without an AIT.Unlike many other players in the forex market, at no point in the process are you required to transfer the money to us or any third party account other than your own.

Most banks don’t charge just the swift fee you see on a transfer. They also build a markup within the AUD exchange rate you receive, which can be as much as 4%.

Our objective is to save clients money relative to normal bank transfer.

We do this by waiving the normal swift fee on a (resident) transfer of R150,000 and above.

Due to the large AUD turnover we do, we have access to preferential rates which allow us to pass on savings to clients through execution below all published SA bank website AUD sell rates.- and we price the saving for you.

In tandem with the above, we bring a very unique combination of Tax and Exchange control expertise which we tailor to your specific Australian migration needs.

These insights (on both the South African and Australian side) are something that traditional South African banks are unable to offer.

When MyGlobalCFO facilitates a forex transfer for you, your money remains your money.

We have partnered with two of South Africa’s leading banks, through which we open a secure Forex account in your name.

It’s through this Forex account your FX deal is executed, after which the AUD flows directly into your beneficiary Australian bank account.

Unlike many other players in the market, funds remain in your name at all times and at no point you required to transfer the money to ourselves or any third party account other than your own.

We are a registered Financial Services Provider FSCA 49859, we are authorised by the South African Reserve Bank, and we a member of South African Association of Treasury Advisers.

And we have been proudly assisting fellow South Africans moving funds to Aus for over a decade.

Once your forex account is funded and forex deal executed, funds will hit your Australian beneficiary bank account within 2 business days.

Tax clearance is now called an AIT (Approval for International Transfer).

If you are in the process of making the move to Aus, an AIT may be required if you are intending to move large sums (e.g. to use your foreign investment allowance to move up to R10m).

If you have already ceased tax residency, you may require an AIT to remit capital proceeds like Retirement fund encashments to Australia.

It is a formal tax compliance process which involves substantiating the underlying source of funds to SARS, and submission of ancillary documents like a 3-year asset & liability statement.

The precursor is that your e-filing profile is compliant, with no outstanding returns or debts to SARS.

Upon approval, SARS will issue an AIT pin which is required to remit the approval amount to Australia.

Once approved, clearance generally lasts for 12 months from date of issue.

Our team of tax practitioners can assist in-house with this application.

If you no longer have a South African bank account, we may still be able to assist.

Living in South Africa is not a pre-requisite for opening an account.

You still need to meet FICA requirements (providing KYC detail including ID and proof of residence), and the account type you need may depend on your tax status.

Previously, financial emigration meant formally changing your status with the South African Reserve Bank. That process has been abolished.

Now, financial emigration means ceasing your South African tax residency with SARS, either because you no longer ordinarily reside in South Africa or because a double tax agreement makes you tax resident in Australia (for example).

It’s a once-off change of status that doesn’t expire, and the onus is on the taxpayer to inform SARS of this cessation.

If you’ve moved abroad permanently, SARS may still regard you as tax resident until you formally cease residency.

Until such time you denote yourself as Non resident, SARS would still expect you to lodge returns to declare worldwide income, including your Australian employment income.

Denoting yourself as Non resident means you declare only SA-source income, and it can enable access to your retirement savings and the transfer of your wealth offshore.

Yes. Once you’ve been non-SA tax resident for at least three consecutive years, you can avail of what is called a Cessation (of tax residency) withdrawal to access your full retirement annuity and/or preservation fund holding as a lump sum, and transfer the proceeds to Australia.

If you’ve decided to make Australia your permanent home, you may want to align your asset base there.

Generally South African Retirement funds can be an important part of this process, therefore a key consideration is how best to externalise them and put the proceeds to work to build your retirement base in Australia.

Encashing your South African Retirement funds and investing the proceeds in Australia (through Superannuation, or discretionary investments) will mitigate the risk of Rand depreciation, and will help you avoid a mismatched core exposure to South African risk-assets.

Retirement fund encashment is more complicated than simply selling down a discretionary investment, and often it will require you to cease tax residency and support the fact that you have been Non-SA resident for three years to avail of a full lump sum withdrawal.

Once encashed via this process, there aren’t any restrictions on what you use this money for in Australia.

So while some make Concessional and/or Non concessional contributions to their Superannation fund, others opt to use the proceeds to set up discretionary investments or enter the Australian property market.

MyGlobalCFO brings a very unique combination of Forex, Tax, Exchange control and Retirement fund encashment expertise which we tailor to your specific Australian migration needs.

We are one of the only (if not the only) financial emigration providers in existence that is a registered financial services provider in both South Africa and Australia.

We can therefore partner with you to provide holistic expertise that is relevant to your new life in Australia while other providers may focus on only one or two pieces of the puzzle.

With over a decade of experience in Retirement fund encashment, we have very good working relationships with all the big policy providers to bridge the gap between the tax process of ceasing residency to facilitating the actual Retirement fund encashments on your behalf – and remitting the proceeds to Australia for onward investment.

No. Ceasing tax residency is a tax matter, and does not impact your eligibility to remain a citizen.

You can keep your South African citizenship and your South African passport.

If you later decide to return to South Africa permanently, you will likely become tax resident again.

You don’t necessarily have to sell all your South African assets, and you don’t necessarily need to close out all South African bank accounts.

You can keep South African property and investments, and you can still hold a South African bank account, which you would denote as a non-resident one.

Only on South African-source income, such as rental income.

Your Australian employment income is no longer taxed in South Africa.

You may still need to file South African tax returns if you earn local income or own local assets, but once you have wound down your SA asset base you may then be able to deregister your income tax type.

Also known as a ‘Deemed disposal for CGT purposes’, this may apply when an individual ceases to be a tax resident

Governed by Section 9H of the Income Tax Act, a deemed disposal of certain worldwide assets may be triggered upon cessation of your residency – even though no actual sale takes place.

This is deemed to take place the day before your change in status, and is based on the market value of certain asset classes as if they were disposed of on that day – and can result in a CGT liability to SARS

SARS would generally lose taxing rights over future capital gains pertaining to the relevant asset, which is then taxed in your new country of residence.

Our objective is to save you money relative to normal bank transfer, and to navigate the tax and exchange control complexities of extracting your inheritance as efficiently as possible.

We bring a unique set of Tax and Exchange control experience, tailored to your specific circumstances.

Through strong relationships with our partner banks, we are often able to expedite inheritance transfers – and can facilitate specific inheritance exchange control approvals for those that have ceased tax residency (via ourselves or otherwise) to remit bequests under R10m without the need to obtain tax clearance (AIT).

An inheritance received from a deceased estate is generally not taxed as income in the hands of the beneficiary in South Africa. Estate duty, where applicable, is dealt with at estate level before the inheritance is distributed.

The Australian tax treatment can depend on the nature of the assets, subsequent income or gains and the beneficiary’s individual circumstances. We can help identify the South African requirements and coordinate with the appropriate tax advisers where necessary.

Accessing an inheritance from South Africa can involve taxation, exchange control and foreign exchange requirements.

We assess your circumstances and determine the appropriate route for releasing and transferring the funds. Depending on your tax residency status, the source of the inheritance and the amount involved, this may include SARS processes, exchange control requirements and non-resident or emigrant banking arrangements.

Once the funds are available for transfer, we can arrange the foreign exchange and transfer them to your Australian bank account.

The timing largely depends on where the funds are coming from.

If you are receiving an inheritance from a deceased estate, the estate administration process can take several months. The executor must settle liabilities, prepare the Liquidation and Distribution account and complete the relevant Master of the High Court processes before the estate can usually distribute funds.

Where funds are payable directly by a policy provider — for example, a death benefit with a nominated beneficiary — the process can often be significantly quicker and may take a matter of weeks rather than months.

The exact documents depend on the source of the inheritance and your circumstances. They may include estate or policy documentation, identification, proof of your South African tax status, banking information and documents required for any SARS or exchange control process.

We will confirm what is required after reviewing your case.

Yes. Once the relevant South African requirements have been completed and the funds are available for transfer, MyGlobalCFO can arrange the foreign exchange and transfer the proceeds to your Australian bank account.

We extend the MGC Private client offer to South African expats who are now tax resident in Australia.

These are generally high-net-worth clients that we have assisted through our own Forex and/or Tax Emigration services.

The objective is to take the funds we’ve externalised from South Africa, and invest those to build long term wealth in Australia.

It is designed for clients looking to place long term capital in excess of AUD 250,000.

Australia and South African equities each make up less than 2% of total equity market capitalisation, and investors who aren’t globally diversified are missing out on a large investment universe.

MGC Private clients provides the ability to unlock global opportunities through our actively managed international investment portfolio.

The portfolio is designed to give clients a diversified holding of Australian shares, International shares, Exchange traded funds, Managed funds, and Cash.

We build and actively manage your global investment portfolio on our highly rated Australian Platform – allowing direct ownership of listed securities on the ASX and across international indices like the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, and London Stock exchange (LSE).

The portfolio is intended for sophisticated high net worth global investors who prefer to retain direct ownership of their underlying assets, with simple consolidated tax reporting in Australia.