As the battle over the future of estate taxes rages in the United States, South Africa has also been examining the potential overhaul of their tax regime. A legislative committee has reviewed the situation and found that the tax needs to be updated due to the fact that very few people will pay the tax that was last updated decades ago. Among the recommendations is to update the exclusion amount for inflation, the repeal of a conduit system that allowed tax evasion, and that retirement accounts remain tax free. The proposal is in a public comment phase and is not expected to be acted upon by the legislature anytime soon.
See Matthew Lester, Davis Tax Committee – Estate Duty needs modernisation, seeks public comment, Biz News, July 13, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
