Capital Gains Tax Considerations for Retiring Small Business Owners
Retirement for small business owners is not simply a case of handing in your resignation letter and having a big party at which the company presents you with a gold watch. It often involves the not inconsiderable task of selling your business—particularly if there is no ‘heir apparent’ to take over the reins. And then […]
Render unto Caesar: Shares and the SARS slice
Whether you are a share trader or a long-term investor, when you make a profit, SARS will want its slice of the pie. Ever since biblical times, there has been a tug-of-war between governments trying to extract as much as possible from their citizens in the form of taxes, and individuals trying to keep as […]
Tax compliance lives beyond death
A deceased estate takes on a (tax) life of its own while being wound up I started my first job back in September 1987 at the tender age of 18, and approximately nine months later I received my very first income tax return from the Receiver of Revenue (as SARS was known in those days), […]
Testamentary trusts still have their place
How you can protect your assets from predators—including SARS Trusts have received a lot of bad press over the past few years, what with SARS taking a dim view of the use of trusts as a means of avoiding tax. A 2008 case involving a property trust, where the beneficiaries were changed in the hope […]
Travel claims, but no allowance?
For commission-earners and the self-employed, the rules are slightly different—but travel costs can be claimed. The common mistake that I make when writing articles about travel allowances is that I tend to forget that not all of us are ‘wage slaves’. Indeed, there are many taxpayers for whom the saying, “If a man will not […]
Deducting bond interest when using an access bond facility
You can use a loan re-advance against your house to purchase a rental property, and get the interest allowed as a tax deduction – it just needs to be structured properly. One of the questions most frequently asked is whether interest on a bond raised to purchase a rental property is deductible against the rent […]