South African Tax Amnesty Applicants Granted Tax Return Reprieve

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

17 June 2005

Taxpayers who delayed the submission of their tax returns whilst awaiting the outcome of applications to the South African Tax Amnesty scheme have been granted a reprieve under legislation tabled in the national parliament on Tuesday.

In a memorandum to the bill, it was noted that the initial deadline for applications under the amnesty was the end of November 2003, although this was subsequently extended to the end of February 2004, the same date as the tax return deadline.

The memorandum observed that: "A number of tax advisers and publications advised that applicants should not submit their returns until such time as they had received confirmation that amnesty had been granted in the expectation that confirmations would be received before the deadline for returns.

"A significant number of applicants followed this early advice and overlooked the deadline for tax returns. Rather than exclude them from the amnesty process it is proposed that they may submit their returns with a period (usually 30 days) specified by the amnesty unit."

More than R50 billion (US$7.6 billion) is expected to flow into the South African economy as a result of the government's amnesty on undeclared offshore assets.

According to deputy finance minister Jabulani Moleketi, it is estimated that the exchange control levies could raise approximately R2.3 billion from the 35,198 applications already adjudicated.

In total, some 43,000 applications were filed under the amnesty, which began in February 2003. Under the scheme, individuals were invited to declare their offshore assets without fear of prosecution in return for paying a 5% tax on money brought back to South Africa.

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