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Transfer duties reduced
09/04/2002 16:40 - (SA)
Pretoria - Transfer duties on property, payable by natural persons, have been reduced with effect from March 1, the SA Revenue Services (Sars) said on Tuesday.
Natural persons will not pay any transfer duty on property up to
the value of R100 000. For property worth between R100 001 and R300 000 they will have to pay 5% of the value over R100 000, and for more expensive property an amount of R10 000, plus 8% of the value over R300 000, Sars said in a statement.
This will apply to all property acquired on or after March 1,
2002, and not only property for residential purposes.
"As from 1 March 2002, a declaration as to the use of the
property will no longer be required for property transactions."
Transfer duties for entities besides natural persons - like
companies, closed corporations and trusts - remain at 10%,
regardless of the value of the property.
Sars said it knew that some buyers of fixed property had tried
to cancel agreements entered into before March 1, and enter into
new agreements in order to take advantage of the lower duty rates.
It warned that the Appeal Court had ruled in a 1966 judgment
that where there was not effective cancellation of the original
agreement, the liability for transfer duty resulting from that
agreement remained binding.
"The fraudulent alteration or substitution of contracts of sale
concluded before 1 March 2002 with contracts purporting to be
concluded on or after that date in order to take advantage of the
reductions in transfer duty is viewed in a serious light and will
lead to prosecution," the statement said.
- SAPA
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