Overhaul donations tax kicks off

The revised provisions of the Capital Transfer Tax Act (Act), which levies donations and inheritance tax, came through the Capital Transfer Tax Amendment Act 2019 promulgated on August 28, 2019 (Amendment Act).

The law could not function without a commencement date. The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Thapelo Matsheka signalled the commencement of this new Act through a Government Gazette dated February 3, 2020. Coincidentally, that is also the commencement date of the new Transfer Duty Act. Whilst the Act predominantly concerns itself with taxing donations and inheritances, the amendments contained in the new law also exempt certain immovable property transactions when donated to or inherited, mainly by citizens. To achieve this, the Amendment Act borrows a lot from exemptions stipulated in section 20 of the Transfer Duty Act. The Act also abolishes some of the provisions in the old law, particularly the sections which taxed gifts on weddings, marriages and inheritance of household goods.