South African tax amnesty underway

An IFA enquired recently on the South African Exchange Control and Tax amnesty, and how this might affect clients of his, especially in respect of offshore trusts they may have settled in the past. After initial delays, the amnesty, which was introduced to try and attract back the estimated R80bn that has been salted away offshore by various means since exchange controls were introduced in South Africa in the 1960s, is now underway. The basic details of the amnesty are: • It applies to resident individuals, close companies, trusts and estates that hold, as at 28 February 2003, foreign...