Moved abroad or planning to emigrate? Don’t overlook your SA tax residency status
For South Africans planning a move abroad, or those who have already settled overseas, one important step can easily be overlooked: formally ending their South African tax residency.
Moving overseas doesn’t automatically change your tax status. Until you have formally ceased to be a South African tax resident, you may remain subject to South African tax obligations.
Leaving your residency status unresolved can also create extra complications later, particularly when accessing retirement savings or transferring money and other assets offshore.
Often referred to as tax emigration, the process of ceasing South African tax residency involves specific requirements that go beyond the practicalities of relocating.
Other financial matters, such as accessing a retirement annuity, selling a property, receiving an inheritance or transferring investments and savings offshore, bring their own documentation and regulatory requirements. Add multiple providers to the mix, and the process can quickly become a challenge.
A tax practitioner may handle the residency process and a fund administrator the retirement payout, and when it comes to moving the funds offshore, clients often default to their bank, where support can be limited and the real cost of the transfer can be obscured by hidden fees built into the exchange rate.
Multi-award-winning fintech Future Forex brings these steps together through an end-to-end service that combines tax emigration assistance with international money transfers. By helping clients navigate the requirements of ceasing tax residency and transferring their funds abroad, the company simplifies what can otherwise be a fragmented process, while offering savings of up to 50% on foreign exchange costs.
What does tax emigration involve?
Ultimately, your tax residency is determined by specific tests and circumstances, and leaving the country physically is not enough on its own.
When assessing your tax status, SARS generally applies two tests:
‘Ordinarily resident’, which considers whether South Africa remains the country you would naturally return to; and
‘Physical presence’, which looks at the number of days spent in South Africa over the relevant period.
“We often speak to people who’ve been abroad for years and assume that time alone has ended their South African tax residency,” says Harry Scherzer, CEO of Future Forex and a qualified actuary. “In reality, it has to be formally addressed with SARS.”
Until that happens, worldwide income and certain gains may remain taxable in South Africa, creating the potential for overlapping tax obligations at home and in your new country.
For those with retirement savings, ceasing residency can also open the door to withdrawing qualifying retirement annuities. However, SARS requires three uninterrupted years of confirmed non-residency, counted from the date residency is formally recorded, before it will approve a withdrawal directive.
Starting the process early, rather than waiting until the funds are needed, means that clock starts as soon as possible.
Tax emigration and foreign exchange, under one roof
Future Forex supports clients through the entire tax emigration journey - beginning with a formal Tax Residency Assessment, followed by the SARS notification of cessation of tax residency, and continuing with guidance through the full three-year non-residency period.
Instead of juggling several service providers, clients are assigned a dedicated account manager: a specialist who understands their circumstances and stays with them from start to finish.
Once the tax and retirement fund requirements are in place, the same team assists with moving the funds offshore - whether retirement payouts, property proceeds, inheritances or savings - including any Approval of International Transfer (AIT) applications, at no additional cost.
“Clients work with one person who already knows their case, rather than having to start again with someone new when their funds are ready to move,” says Scherzer.
When it comes to the transfer itself, Future Forex offers a simpler and more cost-effective alternative to traditional banks, which typically add a hidden 2–3% margin to the exchange rate on top of the visible transaction and SWIFT fees.
“Our technology and scale mean we can save clients up to 50% compared with the banks. Just as importantly, every cost is disclosed upfront, so clients know exactly what they’re paying,” says Scherzer.
Future Forex’s digital platform takes care of much of the admin, from documentation through to the transfer, making what is often a complicated, multi-step process far more straightforward.
This combination of smart technology and personal, end-to-end support earned Future Forex ‘Company of the Year’ at the 2025 Africa Career Summit and ‘Outstanding Customer Service in Forex and Payments, South Africa’ at the World Business Outlook Awards.
Whether you’re planning to emigrate, have already relocated or are simply unsure of your South African tax residency status, you can book a complimentary consultation with a Future Forex tax emigration specialist for guidance tailored to your situation.
Follow this link to get in touch with a Future Forex tax emigration expert, or request a quote for your international transaction.
Future Forex is an authorised financial services provider (FSP 51884).