SA taxpayers with offshore cash, assets given deadline to disclose info
The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) allows for the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities.
Local taxpayers who may have stashed their assets in cash and property offshore have a month to disclose their earnings and ownership details to the South African Revenue Services (Sars).
The deadline for the Special Voluntary Disclosure Programme (SVDP) is August 31, 2017.
“SVDP is a window period for individuals and companies to regularise undisclosed or unauthorised foreign assets and associated income. It came into effect on 01 October 2016,” Sars said in a media statement.
Common Reporting Standard (CRS), a new global entity that authorises the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities, will enable Sars to start receiving offshore third-party financial data from other tax authorities on a regular basis from September 2017.
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“We are aware that there are South African taxpayers with property and assets in other countries. This disclosure will assist us to ascertain how much they have so we know how to tax them; even if you don’t tell us, we will know, as governments of different countries will inform us,” said Sars spokesperson Sandile Memela.
The Citizen is awaiting clarity on whether South Africa has legislative powers to extract information from countries that are notorious for being tax havens.
Sars also announced that, together with the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb), it has established a joint application process.
Applications for tax relief can be made in the new SVDP section of the Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP01) form that is available on Sars e-filing. Applications for exchange control relief may be made on the new SVDP01 form, also hosted on Sars e-filing.
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