Still Own a Company in South Africa? Here’s How to Do It Right.
Structure With Strategy
Leaving South Africa doesn’t mean leaving your business behind but it does change how SARS sees you.
Many expats remain shareholders or directors in South African companies without realising that their tax and reporting obligations have changed dramatically.
Others set up offshore entities, in Mauritius, Guernsey, or the UK, believing they’ve escaped South African tax, only to find they’ve created a controlled foreign company (CFC) or permanent establishment exposure.
At Ronmat Advisory, we help South Africans abroad maintain and structure company ownership intelligently, so your wealth grows globally without compromising compliance locally.
The Legal Landscape
South Africans who own or control companies while living abroad face three overlapping regimes:
- South African Income Tax Act (Section 9D – Controlled Foreign Companies):
If you hold more than 50% of participation or voting rights in a foreign company, its income may still be taxed in South Africa, even if you’ve left physically. - Exchange Control Regulations:
South African residents require approval to hold offshore interests; non-residents may hold them freely, but must prove cessation of residency to banks and regulators. - Companies Act & CIPC Requirements:
You may remain a director of a South African company as a non-resident, but the company’s registered address and accounting obligations stay domestic.
Navigating these layers requires both tax logic and regulatory insight, especially when assets, control, and residency no longer sit neatly in one jurisdiction.
What We Do
Our advisory covers both South African and offshore entities, ensuring ownership structures are effective and defensible:
- Residency & Control Analysis: Assess whether your shareholding creates CFC exposure or SARS reporting duties.
- Offshore Incorporation Planning: Evaluate jurisdictions (UK, Guernsey, Mauritius, UAE) for tax alignment, substance requirements, and DTA benefits.
- Directorship & Governance Support: Draft compliant resolutions and service agreements for non-resident directors.
- Group Structuring: Design tax-efficient holding structures with clear ownership trails for SARS and exchange-control compliance.
- Dividend & Withholding Tax Planning: Apply DTA Articles 10 & 11 and manage Section 64E obligations to prevent over-withholding.
- Regulatory Alignment: Assist with CIPC beneficial ownership filings and SARB reporting to maintain transparency.
Every structure is tested for both legality and practicality, we don’t recommend what can’t be sustained.
Our Approach
- Where the company operates, banks, and makes decisions.
- Where you, as shareholder or director, reside.
- How money moves between those points.
From there, we design an ownership model that satisfies all three regulators: SARS, CIPC, and your offshore jurisdiction.
Where required, we work alongside trustees, accountants, and foreign counsel to ensure the structure has substance, not just paperwork.
Our philosophy is consistent: structure should follow strategy, not the other way around.
Why Ronmat Advisory
We specialise in helping South Africans transition from local operators to global investors — without leaving compliance behind.
Our understanding of both South African CFC rules and offshore corporate tax regimes allows us to protect your position on both sides of the border.
We don’t sell structures. We design systems, transparent, sustainable, and defensible.
That’s Clarity. Strategy. Growth.
FAQs
Have Questions About Something?
Johannesburg, South Africa
Build Globally. Stay Compliant Locally.
Whether you’ve kept a South African company or started one abroad, ensure your ownership structure supports your goals and withstands scrutiny.
