How much money can I take out of South Africa?
To get money out of South Africa has never been a simple process, because there are exchange control regulations in place that govern and limit South African residents from freely transferring money out of South Africa. This means that any cross-border transactions are subject to foreign exchange limitations.
However, exchange control in South Africa has been significantly relaxed. Currently, an adult South African resident over the age of 18 can transfer R11 million annually by using the following allowances:
- an annual single discretionary allowance of R1 million per adult – no tax clearance is required.
- an annual foreign investment allowance R10 million per adult – tax clearance certificate is required.
- a special application – to transfer amounts above the annual single discretionary and foreign investment allowances out of South Africa, and this must be submitted to SARB for their approval.
If you have financially emigrated from South Africa, a single adult person can transfer R10 million, or R20 million as a family unit, by using their annual foreign investment allowance. Since financial emigration has already been finalised, no tax clearance is required.