Estate Duty | South Africa Tax Guide

The general rule is that if the taxpayer is ordinarily resident in the Republic at the time of death, all of his assets, wherever they are situated, will be included in the gross value of his estate for the determination of duty payable thereon.

The dutiable amount is arrived at as follows -

Value of all property at date of death  (including limited interests such as usufruct) takes into account Gross value of property less deductions allowed and an abtaement of R2.5 million

Deemed property includes:  Insurance Policies on the life of the deceased as well as property that the deceased was competent to dispose of immediately prior to his death.

The most important deductions are -

• Debts due at date of death
• Bequests to various charities
• Value of property at date of death bequeathed to surviving spouse

There is relief from Estate Duty in the case of the same property being included in the estates of spouses dying within 10 years of each other. The deduction is calculated on a sliding scale varying from 100% where the taxpayers die within 2 years of each other and 20% where the deaths are within 8 years of each other.

South Africa has entered into reciprocal agreements with various countries ( eg.  United States, United Kingdom, Canada) for the avoidance of double estate duty being payable in respect of the same property.

Rates

Estate duty is payable at a flat rate of 20% for persons dying on or after 1 October 2001.