Page 46 - Nexia SAB&T Estate Planning Guide 2024

business is sold on the basis of fixed assets, stock and a debtors book rather
than as a going concern.
n A natural person is deemed to have sold all his or her assets for income tax
and capital gains tax purposes at market value upon death. To limit these
tax consequences a natural person’s business assets could be transferred to
a company before death utilising the corporate rollover relief in the Income
Tax Act.
Establishing and monitoring a succession plan also provides excellent ongoing
opportunities for reviewing an organisation’s aspirations and strategies.
Succession planning in a business is not easy, and this chapter merely provides
a broad overview of key aspects relating thereto. The assistance of a skilled
professional to assist in the logical planning of your business succession issues
is essential.

ESTATE DUTY

A General
n Estate duty is the tax charged in terms of the Estate Duty Act, on the dutiable
value of your estate.
n The general rule is that if the taxpayer is ordinarily resident in South Africa
at the time of death, all of his assets (including deemed property), wherever
they are situated, will be included in the gross value of his estate for the
determination of duty payable thereon.
n Estate duty is levied at 20% on the first R30 million of the dutiable estate.
Estate duty will be levied at 25% on the dutiable estate in excess of R30
million.
n Estate duty is also leviable on the South African property of non-residents.
n In order for an estate planner to effectively make use of the estate planning
tools available to him, he needs to estimate the value his estate for estate
duty purposes.
n It is important for the estate planner to understand estate duty and how it is
calculated, so that he can plan and minimise the effects of estate duty on
his estate.
44