If you’re sitting abroad and still have money you want to transfer from South Africa, you need to act fast if you want it to happen this year!

South Africans living abroad should take heed of the annual transfer allowance deadlines which are fast approaching. If you need a little extra cash for the festive season or a financial boost in the new year, it’s imperative you act immediately to get the ball rolling.

Exchange control regulations stipulate how much South Africans living abroad can transfer offshore each year. Since these are annual allowances, you won’t be able to defer your 2015 allowance to next year, when the 2016 allowances will apply.

Transfer allowances for South African emigrants

There two types of allowances – a Foreign Investment Allowance (FIA) and the Single discretionary allowance (SDA). The SDA can be used every year if you’re a resident of South Africa and in the year that you leave the country, but ordinarily not in subsequent years. However as a Reserve Bank approved foreign exchange intermediary we can make a special application to utilise this allowance which  makes it quite straightforward to transfer amounts of less than R1M.

Annual allowance deadlines

20 November 2015 – FIA

• Amount: R10 million
• Who can use it: available to South African residents and non-residents
• Transfer requirements: tax clearance certificate and green bar-coded ID document

30 November 2015 – SDA

• Amount: R1 million
• Who can use it: available to South African residents each year and overseas residents in the year they leave SA
• Transfer requirements: green bar-coded ID document

7 December 2015 – SDA-special application

• Amount: R1 million
• Who can use it: South Africans living abroad, even if they’ve left prior to 1 January 2015.
• Transfer requirements: Green bar coded ID document plus a special application to the Reserve Bank (approval within 7 working days).

Because international transfers involve a significant amount of admin, it’s important to act today if you want to move money offshore this year.

Use finglobal.com for the best value forex services

finglobal.com specialises in cross-border financial services for South African expats all around the world and when it comes to transferring your money you’ll enjoy the most competitive rates, low fees and unrivalled personal service all delivered by a SARB approved foreign exchange intermediary.

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