Tax emigration: your questions answered

Tax emigration is the process of formally telling SARS that you are no longer a South African tax resident. If you’ve moved to the UK permanently, SARS will still treat you as resident on its records until you do this.

Whether you need it depends on your circumstances, but it’s particularly relevant if you earn income in the UK, have assets or a retirement annuity in South Africa, or have received a letter from SARS.

In general, it involves confirming the date you stopped being resident, updating your residency status with SARS, filing the relevant tax return for the year you left, and dealing with any exit tax. It can all be done from the UK.

The Tax Emigration Course walks through each of these steps in order.

Possibly. It really depends on your circumstances. If SARS still has you recorded as a tax resident, it may expect returns for the years since you left.

You’re far from alone in this situation. The starting point is understanding when you actually ceased to be resident and what SARS currently has on record. If you’re already under audit or in dispute with SARS, professional support is the better route.

It depends on how you do it. Professional services are commonly quoted between around R5,000 and R50,000, depending on complexity. Separately, there may be tax to pay, such as exit tax on certain assets, depending on your situation.

The DIYTaxFlix Tax Emigration Course is £69.99, one-off, for people whose affairs are straightforward enough to handle the process themselves.

For many people with straightforward affairs (a salary, a pension, limited investments), yes. DIY tax emigration is achievable when you understand the steps and follow them in the right order.

If you have complex trusts, several companies, or are under a SARS audit, professional help is the better choice.

Financial emigration was a process administered by the South African Reserve Bank for exchange control purposes, and it was phased out on 1 March 2021. Tax emigration is about your status with SARS: formally ceasing to be a South African tax resident. Today, changing your status is done through SARS.

“Exit tax” is the everyday name for a capital gains tax charge that can arise when you cease to be a South African tax resident. SARS treats you as having disposed of most of your worldwide assets at market value the day before you stopped being a resident, known as a “deemed disposal”. South African fixed property is generally excluded, because it stays taxable in South Africa.

Whether you have anything to pay depends on what you own and any gains on it. The course explains how it works in plain terms.

RAV01 is the SARS form used to register and update your taxpayer details on eFiling, including your tax residency status. It’s one of the practical steps in the tax emigration process.

A structured series of short videos that take you through the SARS side of tax emigration, from working out where you stand to what “done” looks like. You have 120 days’ access.

Yes. You can watch a free lesson before you buy, to see how the course is taught.

No. DIYTaxFlix is an educational programme. It explains how SARS processes generally work so you can understand and manage your own affairs. It doesn’t give personalised advice about your situation.

The course helps you recognise when that’s the case. DIYTaxFlix learners have access to professional support from SAUK Tax at a preferential rate.

No. The course price is the only thing you pay us.