Announced in the Budget in February, South Africans working in non-income tax jurisdictions, such as the UAE, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands, will be liable to pay income tax in South Africa under the new proposals.
At the time, finance minister Pravin Gordhan said the double non-taxation appeared to be “excessively generous”.
Midnight purge
Gordhan was dismissed from his post by president Jacob Zuma in a late night manoeuvre on 30 March, along with eight other members of the cabinet.
Zuma said he “decided to make changes to the national executive in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness”.
Little impact
Despite Gordhan’s departure, expat group founder Barry Pretorius does not believe there will be any reprieve for South Africans working in non-income tax jurisdictions.
“The minister of finance has very little to do with actual tax policy and law changes,” he told International Adviser.
“Tax policy is formed by the National Treasury and South African Revenue Service (Sars) officials during the year. The announcement may have been made in the Budget speech, but the formulation of proposals happens much earlier and the minister has nothing to do with this.”
As a result, Pretorius plans to push ahead with his petition to stop the legislation from being implemented.
“We will definitely continue with the plan going forward. We are still of the opinion that the draft will be published, at the latest, in July 2017.”
The petition garnered nearly 1,500 signatures in seven days, with signatories from the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mauritius, and the Seychelles.
The group’s Facebook site has attracted more than 5,500 followers.
Pretorius, who is based in Abu Dhabi, said the group is listening to concerns and suggestions from the South African expat community and is working to update the petition.
The petition will be relayed to the National Treasury at a later date by an attorney who will be hired to represent the group.
