When you do your financial planning, remember that a South African trust cannot hold or inherit offshore assets – note this when drafting your Will. A testator wanting to leave their assets to a local trust in their Will must investigate an alternative option for any offshore assets.
Can a trust invest offshore?
Trusts, close corporations and companies can use these funds to get offshore exposure. South Africans may buy any foreign-denominated offshore fund that they wish. Offshore unit trust funds are usually structured as feeder-funds, which are administered in SA and invested offshore.
How much money can I take offshore?
As a resident South Africa taxpayer, you are permitted to externalise funds of up to R11 million per calendar year – which includes a R1 million single discretionary allowance plus a R10 million foreign investment allowance – in direct offshore investments in foreign currency denominated assets.
Can a person withdraw money from an offshore trust?
You won’t be able to walk up to an ATM and withdraw funds from your offshore trust on a whim. The underlying principle of an offshore trust is to protect you – even from yourself!
Who is the second party in an offshore trust?
A Trustee is the second party and is usually a legal entity (like a bank or other financial institution). This entity is the one holding and managing the property in the offshore trust for the Settlor.
How to set up an offshore trust step by step?
We have been forming offshore asset protection trusts since 1995 and our organization was established in 1906. In order to establish an offshore trust in the most favorable jurisdictions there are legal requirements that are summarized here. One signatory is needed for the settlor, the client who is having the trust created.
Can a South African Open an offshore bank account?
Unpacking the enigma around offshore starts with one simple certainty; nothing in the South African Income Tax or Reserve Bank regulations prohibits South Africans from opening a bank account, investment account or setting up an offshore trust.
