As a South African over the age of 18, each calendar year you are able to take R1 million out of the country under the Single Discretionary Allowance (SDA) rules. You do not need a tax clearance certificate to take out funds under the SDA, you just require a valid green bar-coded South African identity document or smart card ID, and a tax number.
Within the SDA there are several different sub-categories, and it can get quite confusing, so let Charter Forex navigate through the maze of regulations on your behalf.
As a South African over the age of 18, you may send money abroad for any investment made in your name, including sending the funds to an overseas bank account in your name, or for the purchase of shares or property in your name.
Your travel allowance forms part of your Single Discretionary Allowance. It is important to remember that your travel allowance includes foreign credit card transactions.
South Africans over the age of 18 travelling abroad for study purposes may use their Single Discretionary Allowance to pay for accommodation, living expenses etc, in addition, they can use additional funds to pay for their studies. This additional amount only relates to tuition fees and can only be paid against an invoice supplied by the academic institution.
Note that parents can also pay the tuition fees for their children under the age of 18 studying abroad.
It is possible to gift money to non-residents and to residents temporarily abroad (but not to residents who are simply travelling abroad).
Diversifying Risk
Claire & Richard are both South African, but they met and fell in love in London. After getting married they returned to South Africa to start a family, but they wanted to hedge their currency risk by keeping some money in their UK bank accounts. They are able to transfer up to R1m each per calendar year into their UK bank accounts.