Discretionary Allowance
Over and above the other amounts that you are allowed to transfer out of South Africa during your life time, there is a further annual Discretionary Allowance that is available. The Discretionary Allowance is available to any person who has a bar-coded South Africa ID book, therefore including South African citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country for a period of at least five years.
The Discretionary Allowance is capped at ZAR1 million per year for adults, and ZAR200 000 per year for children under the age of 18 years. The Discretionary Allowance can take on the following forms:
* Travel Allowance
* Study Allowance
* Gifts of money and loans
* Donations to missionaries
* Maintenance transfers
It is important to note that for the purposes of making the transfer, the categories listed above have their own specific requirements that need to be met. Also, the limit of ZAR1 million is the overall maximum, regardless of what the Allowance is used for. So, for example, if you made a Travel Allowance of ZAR600 000, you would only have ZAR400 000 remaining for the year for all of the other categories.
It is possible to apply to the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) for an increase in the Allowance, but if you do this you may have to pay a 10% exit levy on the extra money being transferred out of South Africa.
The Discretionary Allowance allows you to move money abroad for practically any purpose, but is capped at ZAR1 million per annum
