Is this a scam or not?

marco said:
As a non resident I cannot do so. I have to request FNB non res center to do all my banking. FNB could not deposit the money to SARS as they had no reference number. I only gave them my SARS acc. number. Johan from SARS gave them the ref, no.
Click to expand...

Strange that?

I have a UK bank account for when I worked there many years ago.
I am not resident in Uk but use the online banking to make payments to UK companies all the time.

In any case.
Also SARS reference number is a combination of your SARS tax number and the period and type of tax payable eg xxxxxxxxT00000000 will be the ITA reference for outstanding payments where x is your income tax number

I think this was a scam
 
marco said:
As a non resident I cannot do so. I have to request FNB non res center to do all my banking. FNB could not deposit the money to SARS as they had no reference number. I only gave them my SARS acc. number. Johan from SARS gave them the ref, no.
Click to expand...

What a crock of shyte...

I have an HSBC account in the UK and I'm not a resident. I have 100% full access to it. Why would you not have access to your FNB account, it's yours no matter where in the world you are...
 
Had we just ducked without "Officially Emigrating" via SARS and SARB we would be able to do internet banking and purchases with the FNB card here in Portugal.
Once you Officially Emigrate then your bank account moves to a Blocked Non Resident Account and to make a deposit you have to email them to open the account or the deposit will bounce back like in "divorced or death status". To transfer money I have to send them a signed Letter of Instruction plus a copy of my passport.
Even my Broker Account is blocked and I cannot buy or sell shares myself. I have to instruct my broker to do so. SA laws suck and this is what keeps foreign investors away.
 
Pitbull said:
What a crock of shyte...

I have an HSBC account in the UK and I'm not a resident. I have 100% full access to it. Why would you not have access to your FNB account, it's yours no matter where in the world you are...
Click to expand...

How did you open it without residence?
 
marco said:
As a non resident I cannot do so. I have to request FNB non res center to do all my banking. FNB could not deposit the money to SARS as they had no reference number. I only gave them my SARS acc. number. Johan from SARS gave them the ref, no.
Click to expand...
I think you either need to come to ZA for a few days or you need to sign POA to a family member so they can go talk to SARS...
 
marco said:
Had we just ducked without "Officially Emigrating" via SARS and SARB we would be able to do internet banking and purchases with the FNB card here in Portugal.
Once you Officially Emigrate then your bank account moves to a Blocked Non Resident Account and to make a deposit you have to email them to open the account or the deposit will bounce back like in "divorced or death status". To transfer money I have to send them a signed Letter of Instruction plus a copy of my passport.
Even my Broker Account is blocked and I cannot buy or sell shares myself. I have to instruct my broker to do so. SA laws suck and this is what keeps foreign investors away.
Click to expand...

In hindsight - would it have been better to just leave without offically emigrating? If dealing with a 4 mill amount and it's two of you you can have that money out in a feb/march. More 8 mill and you need 14 months or so. Seems to me, people that go down the "honest" road get skrewed in this country.
 
If you have officially immigrated, why are you still paying tax? Shouldn't this be closed as well?

Also, use internet explorer.

Also, what can SARS do if you are not a legal SA Resident? Just ignore and go on with your live.
 
manicminer said:
OK but I see it's an international product, not a general banking product.
Click to expand...

Should not make a difference.

I can access my FNB account from anywhere in the world, just like my Nedbank account. I don't see how emigrating affects your bank account...
 
gregmcc said:
If you officially emigrate then the reserve bank owns your ass. They take ownership of your account and any money coming in our out of the account has to be cleared with them.
Click to expand...

Guess it makes sense then. But that would mean denouncing your citizenship or not?

Not too familiar with the intricacies when it comes to full on emigration. Never even crossed my mind tbh.
 
Pitbull said:
Should not make a difference.

I can access my FNB account from anywhere in the world, just like my Nedbank account. I don't see how emigrating affects your bank account...
Click to expand...

FICA says it does. The discussion had nothing to do with an existing account. You said you opened a bank account with a foreign bank. You basically used a product that is offered specifically to / for foreigners.
 
manicminer said:
FICA says it does. The discussion had nothing to do with an existing account. You said you opened a bank account with a foreign bank. You basically used a product that is offered specifically to / for foreigners.
Click to expand...

FICA how? FNB can have your address and your details for anywhere in the world. Doesn't mean it must be in SA :confused:

Unless you saying something else. I had to supply my address and proof of identity in 1998 when I opened my account in the UK. Back then already they applied what we now have a FICA.
 
If you have assets in SA that you intend to leave in SA then emigration will trigger a CGT event. A "deemed sale" will occur on the day you leave and it will be taxed. The same assets will be regarded as "bought" at the same price the day after. This is to reset your Base Cost for tax going forward in your new country and relieve you of further tax in SA.

Having followed the saaustralia forum (SA expats in Australia) I see many emigrants having problems with RA's and inheritance transfers from SA to AU. They cannot get the money out as they did not Officially Emigrate. They either have to go back and do it or pay an agent R25k or more to do it for them. Cashkows quoted me R40k so I did it myself for R650 via FNB before I left.
 
marco said:
Having followed the saaustralia forum (SA expats in Australia) I see many emigrants having problems with RA's and inheritance transfers from SA to AU. They cannot get the money out as they did not Officially Emigrate. They either have to go back and do it or pay an agent R25k or more to do it for them. Cashkows quoted me R40k so I did it myself for R650 via FNB before I left.
Click to expand...

I might have to do this the next I take a holiday back to SA.
 
Pitbull said:
FICA how? FNB can have your address and your details for anywhere in the world. Doesn't mean it must be in SA :confused:

Unless you saying something else. I had to supply my address and proof of identity in 1998 when I opened my account in the UK. Back then already they applied what we now have a FICA.
Click to expand...

I've never looked into non-resident accounts and it seems you learn something new every day. Thanks PB!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X