Banking

“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your back pocket.”
– Will Rogers

Banks of Canada

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

• TD (Canada Trust)
• RBC (Royal Bank of Canada)
• CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank Canada)
• BMO (Bank of Montreal)
• Scotiabank

Immigrants are advised to work very carefully with the money they bring to Canada. The *minimum amount of Canadian Dollars a family of four must have when they come to Canada is $23 542, in the Federal Skilled Worker program. In certain situations, for example when the applicant has a job offer, a Federal Skilled Worker can come to Canada without showing settlement funds.

While the amount of money you bring with you to Canada might feel significant, you have to purchase various goods and services soon after your arrival in Canada. Please take time to view our ‘Shopping‘ page. Immediate expenses might include a car, a deposit for renting a house, special winter clothing, and furniture. Immigrants are advised to be very conservative with their funds right from the start.

If a person intends 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, and telephone banking are widely used.

*Minimum amount of CAD needed? The number of settlement funds recommended by Canada Immigration is updated yearly. When reviewing these amounts, please verify the amounts directly on Canada Immigration’s website.

Tax Clearance and taking funds out of South Africa

The information provided here is not tax advice and should not be depended on. Please make use of one or more of the following: 

1. Tax consultant;
2. Accountant; 
3. Tax lawyer; or, 
4. Your personal bank’s national foreign exchange control section for professional advice and guidance. 
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 https://kingsmerefinancial.com, www.finglobal.com and www.masengviljoen.co.za 
In accordance with the following legislation, South African residents may take certain amounts of capital 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) 
• The Foreign Exchange Manual. How to find the Foreign Exchange Control Manual ? 

Navigate to http://www.reservebank.co.za/

Place the cursor over “Regulation and Supervision”
Then a drop down menu would appear: Then move your cursor to “Financial Surveillance and Exchange Controls”
Then another drop down menu would appear: Then move your cursor to: “Currency and Exchange Control Documents”
Then choose “Currency and Exchanges guidelines for individuals”
That will open a pdf document dated 2019-03-05 – it is 33 pages
The Index will show 8 chapters governing different parts of foreign exchange: For example Chapters 3.3 and 3.5 has rules South Africans traveling overseas for work and vacation. 

Temporary Investment Abroad

Exchange control measures were relaxed on 1 July 1997, to allow South African residents to invest R2,000,000 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 an extension for submission was granted;
• There must be no arrears 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 your 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.

Travel Allowance

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

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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 R200 000 per calendar year, see point 2.2.2.1 below.
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Emigration Amount

For those clients that have 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:

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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 thereanent.

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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