Tributum Newsletter #3

Hello there,

It may come as a surprise to most of you that after the 32-30 win over the Springboks in Johannesburg in October 2018 the All Blacks cleaned their own dressing room. In fact, that is what they’ve done after every test match for over a decade now. They call it ‘sweeping the sheds’. Why would a team with a 86% win rate over the past decade and 75% win rate over the past century not call on stadium staff to clean their locker rooms?

Humility. The All Blacks believe that you cannot achieve success without having your feet on the ground. No one is bigger than the team, no one has a right to entitlement, everyone must take responsibility for their own actions. Essentially  – don’t expect someone to perform a task that you are not prepared to perform yourself.

In real life it translates to husbands cooking and washing dishes so the mothers can put their feet up or attend book club, kids making their own beds instead of parents or the domestic. At work it translates to the boss making his own coffee and even one for his PA, fetching your own printing, booking your own flights. Get real, leadership is not about position, its about personality and giving a damn – sweep the sheds.

Cross border taxation remains a hot topic. Even more so when this is combined with foreign trusts. The fact that a trust is established in a tax – free jurisdiction such as Bermuda or the Cayman Islands does not mean that the trust itself is tax friendly.

I think that many people forget that the South African (“SA”) tax laws related to trusts do not only apply to SA trusts, it applies to all trusts and all SA beneficiaries. So yes, that foreign trust’s income can still be taxed in SA if the SA rules apply.

If you or any of your clients are involved with foreign trusts and you have not considered section 7(8), section 7C,section 25B(2A), section 31, Para 72, Para 73 and Para 80 of the Eighth Schedule to the Income Tax Act then you may have a serious problem.

What is even lesser known is that a SA resident’s involvement in a foreign trust may also be a reportable arrangement. The reporting requirement is triggered by monetary value regardless of what the tax reasons for the trust are – SARS wants to know about the foreign trust and they will then ask questions. So, where foreign trusts are involved ask a specialist.

Next month more from on the All Blacks’ “no d@$&heads” mantra and can you really trust your trust?