The Treasury has agreed to significantly amend its proposal to repeal the 183-day tax exemption on foreign income earned abroad, by retaining the exemption and introducing a R1m ceiling on what can be claimed under it. Implementation of the proposal will also be postponed until March 1 2020 instead of the initially proposed March 1 2019, in order to give individuals more time to either adjust their contracts or their circumstances, or to formalise their tax status. The introduction of the ceiling will replace the previous proposal to altogether withdraw the tax exemption for the 183 days worked abroad, which elicited a deluge of opposition from South African residents working abroad. The Treasury received more than 1,300 objections to the proposal, mainly from South Africans working in low-or no-tax countries in the Middle East, who would be most affected by it. Many highlighted the adverse financial effect of the measure and raised the issue of SA’s poor employment prospects, which...
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