As a South African Resident, a person is permitted to transfer a maximum amount of R2 Million rand per person or R 4 Million per family, as a once off payment without having to obtain any clearance from the South African Reserve Bank.

The Procedure is as follows:

Residents transferring less than R 2 Million Rand:

1. The client will need to approach their bank and complete two forms, namely the Balance of Payment form (Also know as The Application to Sell Foreign Currency) even if they wish for the funds to be transferred in Rand, this form is required and supplied by the bank and must be completed by the client, with an original signature for bank purposes.
2. The client will also need to complete the second form which the MP1423, this is also a required and supplied by the bank.
3. The client must ensure they have received their Tax Clearance and that they have an original Tax Clearance Certificate with them when they approach their bank to make the transfer. To receive a Tax Clearance you need to show a bank account statement showing the amount of money that you want to transfer ( I could get a client a Tax clearance from SARS within 3 business days.)

Should the client be exceeding their limit or they have already transferred more than permitted, the client will be required to obtain Reserve Bank Approval via their bank.

Residents transferring more than R 2 Million Rand:

1. The client will need to approach their bank and advise them of the transfer and request in writing to them, that they apply to the South African Reserve Bank on the clients’ behalf for the relevant Reserve Bank clearance for this transfer.
*Reserve Bank applications may take as long as 6 weeks for approval*
2. The client will also be instructed by the bank to obtain their Tax Clearance from South African Revenue Services.
3. Once the Reserve Bank clearance has been received, the bank will advise the client of this. The clients can then go ahead and request for the transfer of their funds.
*In order to this, they will need to complete several forms for the bank.
4. The Balance of Payment form (Also know as the Application to Sell Foreign Currency) even if the client has requested Rand to be transferred, the form is required by the South African Reserve Bank, and needs to be completed by the client.
5. The client will also have to complete a second form, the MP1423 – this form is required and supplied by the bank.
6. The client will also have to provide an original Tax Clearance certificate to the bank in order to make their transfer.

South Africans living abroad and who are not intending coming back should contact SARS for an emigration tax clearance certificate if they wish to transfer money from South Africa.

If there is anything which I can assist you with during this process, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours faithfully

Fanus Jonck
Tax Consultant (tax@jonck.net , +27(0) 21 913 4164)