Page 25 - Nexia SAB&T Property & Tax Guide 2022

❖ Section 23 provides that a property practitioner, whose turnover is below
R2.5 million, may not require an audit, but must cause his, her or its accounting
records to be subjected to an independent review by a registered accountant,
subject to the provisions of section 54(1)-(7) applied with the necessary changes.
All property practitioners whose turnover is above R2.5 million must cause their
accounting records to be audited within 6 months of their financial year end.
❖ The Minister may by notice in the Government Gazette, determine circumstances
where a property practitioner may be exempted from keeping trust accounts,
and determine a different dispensation for the review of the accounting records
for those property practitioners. The final Regulations, which were published on
14 January 2022, state that a property practitioner is exempted from keeping a
trust account if he has never received any trust monies, or no longer receives the
same, and he submits an affidavit to this effect to the Board of Authority.
❖ A managing agent shall not be required to operate a trust account in respect of a
body corporate where the funds of that body corporate are held in a bank account
opened in the name of the body corporate in terms of Section 21(4)(a) of the
Sectional Title’s Schemes Management Act (8 of 2011).
◆ Property Practitioners Fidelity Fund and Fidelity Fund Certificates
❖ The Estate Agents Fidelity Fund is now known as the Property Practitioners Fidelity
Fund (PPFF). It has the purpose of reimbursing consumers who suffer financial loss
by reason of theft of trust money committed by a property practitioner.
❖ Every property practitioner must have a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate, and is
prohibited from rendering services without it. He will not only be required to
possess a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate, but also a Tax Clearance Certificate, and a
valid BEE Certificate.
❖ The property practitioner must apply to the Board of Authority for a Fidelity Fund
Certificate every 3 years, and must display the Certificate in every place of business
from where he conducts property transactions, to enable consumers to easily
inspect it. The Board must issue the Certificate within 30 days. Failure to do so will
result in the application being deemed to have been approved and the Board must
upon written request by the applicant, produce the Certificate within 10 days.
❖ A valid Fidelity Fund Certificate must be held for all property practitioners within
the agency or business. If an entity is a company, close corporation, trust or
partnership, then every director, member, trustee and partner in that business
must be issued with a Fidelity Fund Certificate, and failure to do so constitutes
an offence.
❖ The Regulations provide that a property practitioner, who, on 1 February 2022
holds a Fidelity Fund Certificate issued under the previous Act shall be entitled to
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