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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.
n The following provisions apply in regard to determining estate duty liability:
u which property is to be included,
u which property which you may not own at the date of your death is also
included as “deemed property”
u all the possible deductions that are allowed when calculating estate duty
liability.
B Property
n Includes all property, or any right to property, including immovable or
movable, corporeal or incorporeal – registered in the deceased’s name at the
time of his death.
n Includes any tangible asset registered in the deceased’s name at his death
as well as fiduciary rights, usufructs, and certain types of annuities, and
options to purchase land or shares, goodwill and intellectual property.

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