Remote/offshore work and SARS

The_Librarian

The_Librarian

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Hi Guys

Just a quick question.

Should you get a job with a company based overseas, and you can work remotely from the comforts of your house, and get paid in $, do you still need to take SARS into account?

My assumption is that you have to do your taxes yourself, and still pay the useless tax money anyway.

Just want to be prepared and not do myself in.

Thanks
 
What you declare very much depends on the double-tax agreement and with which country.

You still need to submit stuff to SARS, but in a lot of cases your not going to pay twice.
 
The_Librarian said:
My assumption is that you have to do your taxes yourself
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Yes. You're essentially self-employed. You can either become a provisional tax payer or I believe you could register a company and be the sole proprietor - both have their pros and cons.

Just get a tax consultant to assist.
 
Yep, you pay PAYE here and tax toward the country the company you work for is in.
 
The_Librarian said:
Good to know, will have to keep that in mind.
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You only pay tax twice "technically".

All countries have some kind of law that says people in this country pay tax because your here and xyz
The Income Tax Act of SA laws say that a SA resident is tax on his worldwide income, thats why if
(eg) you go to Germany for a week, you sell something on an exchange in Singapore then you still have to pay tax in SA.
But then (eg) Singapore also says that anybody that made money here will pay tax on it, so you have a double tax.

Most countries have come to some agreement that says we get the tax if ABC happens, and you take it when GHI happens.
In other words you dont get taxed twice, theyve come to some arrangement already.

So we dont know what your work arrangements are and with what country.
You can google the DTA of the country but ultimately you probably would want to see a tax advisor on this
 
I get paid in $'s and use a Wise (Transferwise) bank account. Have been for the last decade.

I pay provisional tax (IRP6), twice a year.

I have also posted my experience here:

RedViking said:

I AM NOT A TAX CONSULTANT. This is my opinion and you should approach a tax consultant.


TAX Year is 2022

You will register for Provisional Tax. IRP6

First submission is end of August.
Second submission is end of February.


Tax is calculated on YEARLY ESTIMATED INCOME - EXPENSES for March 2021 - February 2022.

Expenses:

Keep ALL proof of transactions, slips, receipts etc. for 5 years.

1. Office space (exclusive use) to house %.
e.g. Office 10m² / House 100m²
Office = 10%

2. Rent x 10%, Electricity x 10%, Security x 10%.
e.g. Rent 3 000 x 10% = 300 expense
Electricity 5000 x 10% = 500 expense
ADT Security 400 x 10% = 40 expense

You can do the same for your Internet, Insurance etc.

3. Office Equipment and Stationery less than R7000
e.g. Paper, pen, ink, markers, printer, chair, kettle, new CPU etc.

3. Office Equipment more than R7000 you work out the Depreciation over a period of 3 - 6 years. https://www.taxtim.com/za/tax-guides/definitions/wear-and-tear
e.g. New laptop, Coffee Machine, PC

4. Software or Software Subscriptions
e.g. MS 365 Business, Camtasia, Photosshop, Windows 10 etc.

5. Medical Aid amount as specified by SARS, travel allowance (need log book), business meetings expenses etc.

6. Less Rebate specified by SARS

Rates of Tax for Individuals | South African Revenue Service

The Budget tax guide 2026 will be published on 25 February 2026 when the Minister of Finance delivers his budget speech - keep an eye on the Budget webpage.
www.sars.gov.za www.sars.gov.za

Calculation:

So if your yearly estimated income is R120 000. And your yearly office expense is R20 000.

Then R120 000 - R20 000 = R100 000.
R100 000 - R15 714 (Rebate) = R84 286 Taxable Income

First Provisional Tax will be R84 286 ÷ 2 = R42 143

Second Provisional Tax will be the rest of the year, minus R42 143.

So first provisional tax you would want to estimate as accurately as possible to avoid penalties when doing your second and final payment:

www.taxtim.com

Provisional tax penalties

Seasoned provisional taxpayers – those people who earn income from sources other than, or in addition to a regular ol' salary or traditional payment…
www.taxtim.com www.taxtim.com


Other Resources:

(Some is for salaried workers, but Provisional Tax can be applied to everyone.)

www.fibretiger.co.za

Fibre And Tax: Can I deduct it ? | Fibre Tiger

Is your fibre internet connection tax deductible? We asked some tax experts.
www.fibretiger.co.za www.fibretiger.co.za

Home Office Tax Deductions and Expenditures

The Moore tax team responds to a reader's enquiry with regard to claiming a tax deduction for home office expenditure in the 2021 year of assessment.
www.moore-southafrica.com www.moore-southafrica.com

businesstech.co.za

Can salaried workers in South Africa also claim home office tax relief?

The South African Revenue Services has previously allowed the deduction of home office expenses in the determination of taxable income where taxpayers earn mainly commission or are independent contractors and freelancers.
businesstech.co.za businesstech.co.za
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Question regarding taxes and offshore projects - got a consulting project where the overseas company wants me to invoice them via my own SA company, which I assume is fine? Need to not charge VAT, and just invoice them in GBP.

The second part makes me somewhat uncomfortable, they want to only pay in GBP to a UK bank account. Since I don't and can't really have a UK bank account in my company name, they recommend just opening a personal bank account (such as a Jersey account through Std bank) and then pay into that and I deal with it that it reflects as income for my business.

Any red flags? I wouldn't want to mess up my own and my businesses taxes, lol.
 
hj007 said:
Question regarding taxes and offshore projects - got a consulting project where the overseas company wants me to invoice them via my own SA company, which I assume is fine? Need to not charge VAT, and just invoice them in GBP.

The second part makes me somewhat uncomfortable, they want to only pay in GBP to a UK bank account. Since I don't and can't really have a UK bank account in my company name, they recommend just opening a personal bank account (such as a Jersey account through Std bank) and then pay into that and I deal with it that it reflects as income for my business.

Any red flags? I wouldn't want to mess up my own and my businesses taxes, lol.
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Best would be to pony up and see a qualified tax consultant, they will know the ins and outs of the system better than we do.
 
The_Librarian said:
Best would be to pony up and see a qualified tax consultant, they will know the ins and outs of the system better than we do.
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indeed - they seemed to think it's all fine when I spoke to them, but it's also not their risk...

but if anyone has already had any surprises doing offshore would be good to know, since there seem to be more and more folks on these forums doing similar stuff.
 
hj007 said:
The second part makes me somewhat uncomfortable, they want to only pay in GBP to a UK bank account. Since I don't and can't really have a UK bank account in my company name, they recommend just opening a personal bank account (such as a Jersey account through Std bank) and then pay into that and I deal with it that it reflects as income for my business.
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Don't dude.

Keep them separate. It's a nightmare to separate the line items and convince SARS this is for A and this is for B.

The VAT part is also questionable, but I'm not sure if they're somehow exempt because offshore.

With all the virtual banks up and running today, surely one of them have a solution for you to accept GBP.
 
If you get hired as a freelancer in another country you don't have to pay double tax.

If you decide not to register as business here and choose the provisional tax payer option you can totally open a personal bank account and have it paid there. I use Discovery's Forex account as I get paid in Euros.

I also work with a tax consultant. I just submit my income and expenses and they do my returns
 
PotatoGuardian said:
If you get hired as a freelancer in another country you don't have to pay double tax.

If you decide not to register as business here and choose the provisional tax payer option you can totally open a personal bank account and have it paid there. I use Discovery's Forex account as I get paid in Euros.

I also work with a tax consultant. I just submit my income and expenses and they do my returns
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Yeah, I guess the worry for me is that they want me to invoice as a business (SA-based) not a freelancer..
 
hj007 said:
Yeah, I guess the worry for me is that they want me to invoice as a business (SA-based) not a freelancer..
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Oh I was being a potato and didn't realise the top half of the thread was old. By reading your comments it sounds like you already own a business and this is extra work.

When I first started doing things abroad and getting income I spoke to my tax person. It doesn't really matter where they pay your money into as long as you declare it accurately with SARS. So usually I get paid in Euros and whatever amount I get when I convert it to Rands I declare as income. Sometimes I keep some euros in my euro account and then just use the rate I would have gotten to estimate total income.

I also have to invoice every time I need to get paid I just manually create one and export as a pdf. So maybe you need to clarify if they are looking for a business name, VAT number and business registration number. If not, then it might be simpler to stay a sole prop and create invoices for them. If you already have an invoicing system that would probably just be easier if you can change the bank details?
 
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