Investors are regularly reminded of the wisdom of investing offshore and not adopting an investment strategy that focuses only on South African assets. There are a number of compelling reasons for investing offshore.
Grab your popcorn and hold onto your seats folks, because it looks like this movie (already longer than a Tolkien trilogy) might be heading for its grand finale. While our American friends are getting ready to celebrate July 4th, it looks like we may see some fireworks from this side of the Atlantic in the coming few week also, following one of the most over-reported financial sagas in the financial press in the last 6 months (even Janet Yellen’s Facebook count has waned of late).
Many South Africans have invested in offshore property in recent years but neglected to consider the tax effect from an estate planning point of view, as it is often assumed that offshore assets will not form part of a resident’s estate for estate duty purposes. In South Africa residents are taxed on worldwide income and capital gains and estate duty is levied on the worldwide assets of ordinarily residents including offshore assets. Therefore, it is essential to consider the amount of estate duty and capital gain tax (hereinafter referred to as “CGT”) payable on death with regards to offshore assets, as this will have an effect on the liquidity of the estate.
Periodic volatility in global markets, diverts attention away from the key components of long term investing. In times such as these, Allan Gray subtly
