South Africa has long faced the reality of ‘flight’ by citizens to other countries for a myriad of reasons, including lack of economic opportunity and the prevalence of crime.
South African officials accordingly have long focused on these expats as a potential source of income, with the discussion most notably bubbling to the surface during parliamentary hearings in 2017. In those hearings, government officials, in particular from the South African Revenue Service (SARS), quoted the number of South Africans abroad and the discrepancies between tax disclosures and bank information of South African expats.
Hence, in the minds of some officials, the arrival of a worldwide tax system in South Africa could not come soon enough for a country with a burgeoning national debt that struggles to generate higher tax revenue. Expected to come into effect on 1 March 2020, an amendment to the South Africa Income Tax Act will require South African citizens to pay taxes to South Africa regardless of where income is earned (including on benefits such as housing and flights).
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