Recent Cross-Border Changes South African Expats in Australia Should Be Aware Of

Three years after moving to Melbourne, I revisited the rules around tax residency, retirement funds and moving money from South Africa. These are the points that stood out.

Tax residency, retirement funds, and moving money offshore

Updated 19 September 2026. Originally published 11 January 2026.

In January 2026, I hit a personal milestone: just over three years since landing in Melbourne and making Australia my home.

It prompted me to go back and re-read some of the cross-border rules around tax residency, retirement funds, and moving money offshore. Even as a financial adviser who deals with this more than most, it remains a highly specialised area.

In practice, I generally work alongside tax specialists and lawyers, and often refer clients directly to them, particularly where SARS is involved. The rules matter, but so does the administrative reality. When I first wrote this article, I was in a stretched-out back and forth with SARS regarding my own Australian income reporting. Providing the records needed to support a treaty position can be a slow, manual process.

As I worked back through the changes and clarifications of the last few years, there were a few points that stood out. I have updated them below.

1. One of the biggest shifts: from financial emigration to tax residency

From 1 March 2021, the old financial-emigration process through the Reserve Bank was replaced by a framework centred on tax residency and verification. Exchange-control requirements still apply when moving money offshore.

Your tax residency and its cessation date depend on the applicable legal tests and any relevant tax treaty. SARS must be notified and may require supporting evidence, but the date it processes that notification is not, by itself, the date your residency ends.

South African residents are generally taxed on worldwide income, subject to exemptions and treaty relief. Non-residents are generally taxed on South African-source income. Living overseas or holding a foreign passport does not automatically settle your tax position.

SARS’s residency guidance explains the notification process. Ceasing residency can also trigger capital gains tax on a deemed disposal of certain assets, so the effective date matters.

2. A quiet but important change on citizenship

On 6 May 2025, the Constitutional Court struck down the provision that automatically removed South African citizenship when someone voluntarily acquired another nationality without prior permission. Citizenship lost under that provision was restored.

Home Affairs launched its Citizenship Reinstatement Portal in November 2025 and rolled out its second phase on 10 February 2026. It lets affected people confirm their status remotely using biometric verification. Confirmed records are updated on the Population Register; cases that cannot be verified immediately go to a specialist.

If this affected you, check your record through My Home Affairs Online. Citizenship and tax residency are separate questions.

3. How the residency tests fit together

South Africa uses ordinary residence and physical presence to determine individual tax residency. A double taxation agreement, or tax treaty, can also affect the outcome.

Ordinary residence: This asks where your real home is. Intention matters, but it needs to be supported by facts such as your family, home, work and pattern of living. Keeping a property in South Africa does not decide the question on its own. SARS explains these factors in its ordinary-residence interpretation note.

Physical presence and the 330-day rule: Physical presence is a separate test based on time spent in South Africa. If you are resident under that test, an absence of at least 330 consecutive full days means you are deemed to have ceased residency from the day you left. It is not a general waiting period for everyone who emigrates. See SARS’s physical-presence interpretation note.

Treaty residence: If both countries treat you as resident under their domestic rules, the South Africa–Australia treaty contains rules for resolving that overlap. The outcome depends on your circumstances; an Australian address or visa is not enough to establish it.

Once you have established the correct position, notify SARS and retain the supporting records. For the return itself, I have covered the current checks in SARS Filing Season 2026: what to check on your tax return.

4. Retirement funds: where expectations often need resetting

This is often the area where expectations and reality drift apart.

Under the two-pot system introduced on 1 September 2024, participating funds account separately for vested, savings and retirement components. The rules differ between them.

  • Savings component: Generally, you can make one savings withdrawal per tax year, with a minimum withdrawal of R2,000, subject to the available balance. You do not need to meet the three-year non-residency rule for this access.
  • Retirement component: Access before retirement on the basis of ceasing South African tax residency requires an uninterrupted period of at least three years as a non-resident.
  • Vested component: The three-year condition applies to retirement annuities under the cessation route. It is not a blanket restriction on pension and provident funds. Preservation funds may still allow their once-off withdrawal if it has not already been used.

SARS sets out the distinctions in its non-resident withdrawal requirements and tax-directive guide. The fund must confirm eligibility and obtain the applicable SARS tax directive before payment.

The tax treatment also differs. Savings withdrawals generally attract your marginal income tax rate. Qualifying lump-sum withdrawal benefits use the withdrawal tax table, with previous relevant lump sums taken into account. These are not interchangeable calculations.

For a non-resident, treaty relief may also need to be considered. Before withdrawing, have the fund and your tax adviser check the South African and Australian treatment of the particular benefit. Do not assume that tax deducted by the fund settles every tax question.

5. Moving money offshore: check the transfer category

The documents your bank needs depend on your residency status, the source of the money and the type of transfer.

For transfers of South African company dividends and rental income to non-residents, including people who have ceased South African tax residency, the Reserve Bank’s current manual requires SARS compliance evidence. If you are registered with SARS, this is a Tax Compliance Status PIN for Approval International Transfer (AIT). If you are not registered, the requirement is a Manual Letter of Compliance – International Transfer. Rental transfers also require supporting rental documents.

Interest income and qualifying pension or compulsory-annuity payments have their own documentary conditions. There is no single AIT requirement covering every payment. These distinctions appear in section B.3(B) of the Reserve Bank’s current manual.

Ask the bank handling the transfer for its requirements before arranging a withdrawal or promising a payment date. If you have outstanding borrowing, confirm the repayment terms with the lender as well. Do not plan around an assumption that you can leave those arrangements until after the funds arrive.

Final thought

Cross-border rules tend to evolve through both legal changes and administrative updates. My own experience with SARS is a reminder to check the underlying rule and the records needed to apply it.

Whether you handle this yourself or work with a specialist, a quick sense-check now is usually far easier than trying to unwind an administrative knot later.

If these changes have left you wondering how to plan your financial life in Australia, get in touch. I draw on my own move from South Africa and my Australian financial-planning work to help expats make sense of their next steps.

The information on this blog is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs. Please consider whether the information is appropriate to your circumstances before acting on it.

Sources and further reading

Tags