Matrixvisa Inc Immigration law practitioner

Immigrants to Canada have a wide range of banks they can choose from. The most well known banks in Canada are the following:

Immigrants are advised to work very careful with the money they bring to Canada. The *minimum amount of Canadian Dollars a family of four (Federal Skilled Worker) must have when they come to Canada is $17286. In certain situations a Federal Skilled Worker can come to Canada even when the skilled worker with 3 dependents do not have this amount – please ask Matrixvisa Inc about this. Whatever the amount of money is, that you bring with you to Canada, might feel like a large amount but you have to buy/pay many things in a short time after landing in Canada (also depends on your currency) - please view our “Shopping” section. Once you have a car; a deposit for renting a house is needed; special winter clothes and furniture is next in line and soon, not much is left. Immigrants are advised to be very conservative with their funds right from the start.

If a person intend to come to Canada in the next few months, the Canada Currency Converter can be used to determine how many Canadian Dollars (CAD) will be bought with foreign currency.

Immigrants are required by law to declare if they have more than CAD 10 000 in their possession when they enter Canada.

The banking system in Canada is very advanced and services such as internet banking, automatic teller machines, telephone banking is widely used.

*Minimum amount of CAD needed? Because these amounts can be updated at any time, please also make sure on the Immigration website.

Number of People in Family / Funds (CAD) needed (updated Jul 2011)

1 / $11,115
2 / $13,837
3 / $17,011
4 / $20,654
5 / $23,425
6 / $26,419
7 or more people / $29,414

TAX CLEARANCE AND TAKING MONEY OUT OF
SOUTH AFRICA

The information provided here is not tax advice and should not be depended on:
Please contact one of the following:
1. your own tax consultant
2. accountant
3. tax lawyer or
4. your personal bank's national foreign exchange control section for professional advice and guidance.

Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) in Johannesburg: 011-350-4000 International Banking Division Head Office can also be contacted at 011-350 8768 and speak to Amanda or Linda. E-mail address is amandave@absa.co.za
Standard Bank at 0860-123-006 and 011-636-0571 fax
First National Bank: 0860 11 22 44 or 011 369 1088

5. SA Reserve Bank

Physical Address: 370 Church Street, Pretoria 0002
Postal Address: P.O. Box 427, Pretoria, 0001
Telephone: +27 12 313-3911
Fax: +27 12 313-3197 or +27 12 313-3929

6. Expert companies such as www.cashkows.com and www.masengviljoen.co.za

In terms of the following legislation South African residents may take certain amounts out of the country under certain conditions:

Currency and Exchanges Act, 1933 (Act No. 9 of 1933), the Exchange control Regulations, 1961 (as promulgated by Government Notice R1111 of 1 December 1961 and amended up to Government Notice No. R.885 in Government Gazette No. 20299 of 23 July 1999) see www.matrixvisa.com/pages/forms/saforexregulations.pdf; and
the Foreign Exchange Manual, Section H, par 2.2.2.1 for travel allowance (see below) and Section T for emigration allowance (see below).

Temporary Investment Abroad

Exchange control measures were relaxed on 1 July 1997, to allow South African residents to invest R2000 000 abroad.

Such investors must obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate from any Receiver of Revenue prior to the approval of any foreign investment.

It must be emphasized that the clearance certificate in respect of foreign investments may only be issued by an official from SARS after the tax status of the person requesting the certificate, has been checked and found to be in order, in other words:

Due tax returns must have submitted unless extension for submission was granted;
There must be no arrear taxes outstanding;
All persons who wish to invest offshore are required to register for income tax purposes before obtaining a Tax Clearance Certificate irrespective of their present status regarding their liability for registration as a taxpayer;
This form must be delivered to you local tax office. Within 7-21 days a clearance certificate will be provided. The clearance certificate could be used to transfer the funds in your Canadian bank account.
www.matrixvisa.com/pages/forms/FIA0011.pdf

Travel Allowance

The Foreign Exchange Manual, Section H, par 2.2.2.1 for travel allowance indicates the following:

Quote

The transfers for invisible items can be classified according to whether they are mainly of a personal nature or of a business nature.
2.2.2 Single discretionary allowance
Residents (natural persons), who are over the age of 18 years may be permitted to avail of a single allowance within an overall limit of R500 000 per individual per calendar year, without the requirement to obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate, to cover the following discretionary allowances:

Monetary gifts and loans - See point 5.1.1, Section L;
donations to missionaries - See point 5.2.1, Section L;
maintenance transfers - See point 5.3, Section L; and
travel allowance - See point 2.2.2.1 below.
This discretionary allowance is in addition to the existing R2 million individual foreign capital allowance; see point 6.1.1, Section O.

Except as mentioned in point 5.1, Section L, the single discretionary allowance may not be availed of by residents living temporarily abroad nor may the single discretionary allowance be used to disguise transfers for other purposes for which foreign exchange would otherwise be refused.

Once the single discretionary allowance has been fully utilised for one or more of the purposes referred to above, the Exchange Control will not necessarily be agreeable to additional funds being authorized to satisfy further requests under this dispensation. Such requests would only be agreed to in exceptional cases.

To ensure accurate and comprehensive reporting of all data on cross-border transactions, applicants must provide accurate information to enable the Authorized Dealers to correctly report the purpose of the transaction via the Reporting System.

This dispensation is not available to residents (natural persons) under the age of 18 years. They may only be accorded a travel allowance of up to an amount of R160 000 per calendar year, see point 2.2.2.1 below.

Unquote

How to find this ?

Navigate to www.reservebank.co.za
Click on "Exchange Controls" on the left
Then click on "Exchange Control Manual" under Publications
Then click on Section H

Emigration Amount

For those clients that has more funds to take than the travel allowance may take out up to R4 million per family in terms of The Foreign Exchange Control Manual, Section T which determines the following:

Quote

6.2.5.3 Application for emigration facilities
Applicants must complete a Form M.P.336(b) (Application for foreign capital allowance) furnishing full details of the nature and value of their assets, both in and outside the RSA as well as similar information pertaining to any liabilities which will be outstanding in the Republic after their departure.

In addition to the details required on the Form M.P.336(b), the applicant must declare whether any assets, cash or otherwise, were received as donations or gifts within the last three years or as capital distributions from Inter Vivos Trusts within the last three years, prior to the date of emigration and furnish details there anent.

Where a family unit is involved, the total assets of the family unit must be listed on the Form M.P.336 (b), which should be signed by the head of the family.

Written confirmation from the South African Revenue Service to the effect that the applicant's tax commitments have been met or that suitable arrangements have been made to liquidate any obligations in this regard, must be attached to the Form M.P.336 (b).

6.2.5.4 Facilities for which emigrants qualify
Emigrants qualify for:

A cash allowance (equal to a travel allowance);
a foreign capital allowance; and
are allowed to export those items listed below.

Cash allowance (equal to a travel allowance)

Single person Foreign exchange may be made available within the limit specified in point 2.2.2, Section H.;

Family unit Foreign exchange may be made available within the limit specified in point 2.2.2, Section H, per adult and R160 000 per child under 18 years of age.

Foreign capital allowance

Single persons Up to R2 million
Family unit Up to R4 million

Quoted securities may be exported as part of or in lieu of the emigration facilities outlined above based on the market value thereof at the time of availing of the applicable allowance. The relevant securities must be restrictively endorsed.

(February '08) T1 Emigrants can, on application, request to transfer blocked assets in excess of the limit of R4 million per family unit or R2 million per single person, subject to an exit charge of 10% of the amount.

Persons who have emigrated, but have not fully utilized the current authorized foreign capital allowance, may be accorded additional capital transfers, provided the total amount availed of does not exceed the current limits.
A widow/widower with dependants may also be regarded as a family unit.
The aforementioned allowances may be provided irrespective of the destination of the emigrant.

Export of household and personal effects and motor vehicles
Forms N.E.P. may be attested covering the export of household and personal effects, motor vehicles, caravans, trailers, motor cycles, stamps and coins (excluding coins that are legal tender in the Republic) per family unit or single person within the overall insured value of R1 million.

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How to find this?

Navigate to www.reservebank.co.za
Click on "Exchange Controls" on the left
Then click on "Exchange Control Manual" under Publications
Then click on Section T