Cash-in your SA Retirement Annuity & Pension before you leave.
You can cash-in (withdraw) the full investment values of your South African retirement annuity products once your financial emigration from SA is on record.
What is financial emigration?
It’s the formal application to the SA Reserve Bank and Revenue Services to amend your residency status from an SA ‘resident’ to ‘non-resident’. This change in residency status does not affect your SA citizenship or your right to return at any time in the future – it is only a record for SA exchange control purposes.
What then?
After financial migration, you are free to cash-in your retirement annuities and selected pension/provident preservation funds.
What are the advantages of cashing-in?
- You’re able to withdraw all your money from SA for re-investment in your new home country.
- Within 6 months of obtaining Australian permanent residency you can enjoy the tax advantages when re-investing in your Superannuation
- You’ll have available cash to purchase a house, cars and for general relocation costs
- You’ll safeguard your retirement savings from further SA currency risk
- You can boost your Australian retirement savings which is tax free after age 60
Are you planning to formally emigrate?
It is important to have perspective on your future personal financial position. Once deemed a ‘non-resident’ your SA income is exempt of tax and in accordance with the SA/Australia double taxation treaty, in the future you’ll be taxed on the Australian side.
An often overlooked, but significant factor to keep in mind when emigrating, is a potential future inheritance in SA from parents, family etc. As a ‘non-resident’, inheritance income can be freely remitted to Australia, but living abroad, as a SA resident, transferring inheritance income is fraught with difficulty!
To successfully navigate the emigration minefield it is advisable to seek professional advice in order to make your financial exit from South Africa a profitable and pleasant journey.
www.cashkows.com
Like us on facebook or connect wih us on linkedin
www.cashkows.com
Like us on facebook or connect wih us on linkedin
As a expat who left the country without knowing all of this and therefore I haven't amended my residency status from an SA ‘resident’ to ‘non-resident. Do I have to be in South Africa to do this, or can I do this from New Zealand?
ReplyDeleteHi Des
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your enquiry.
You do not need to be in South Africa to complete the process however it is complex and in most cases will require the services of a provider that specialises in this area.
If you can send us a mail (info@cashkows.com) with your contact telephone number one of our team will be happy to call you to discuss and explain the requirements.
Many thanks