Using Both SA Allowances in One Tax Year: How the Mechanics Actually Work
It’s a Tuesday morning at a South African bank’s forex desk, and a couple is trying to move as much of their savings offshore as the rules allow before the year ends. This is what that conversation, stripped of names, actually involves: using both SA allowances in one tax year — or more precisely, one calendar year — and getting the mechanics right.
The first thing to get right: the calendar year is what counts
SARB’s allowances run on the calendar year — 1 January to 31 December — which is different from South Africa’s March-to-February tax year. That distinction trips people up constantly, because they plan around their tax year and then discover their allowance clock reset, or didn’t, on a different date entirely. If you’re timing a large transfer around a year-end, confirm which “year” you’re actually working with — the calendar year versus tax year allowance basis — before you assume anything resets.
What each allowance is, on its own
The single discretionary allowance (SDA) is currently R2 million per calendar year per person — it doubled from R1 million following the 2026 Budget and the SARB circulars that followed it. It needs no documentary evidence or SARS tax compliance status (TCS) PIN, except for travel outside the Common Monetary Area.
The foreign capital allowance, also called the foreign investment allowance (FIA), is separate: R10 million per calendar year, per individual aged 18 or older. Unlike the SDA, it does require a SARS TCS PIN confirming tax compliance, plus a green bar-coded ID or smart ID card.
How they stack per person
Both allowances are personal, not per family. That means a married couple, each holding their own eligible ID, can each use their own SDA and their own FIA in the same calendar year — R2 million plus R10 million, per person, so up to R24 million combined for a couple if both are fully used. It doubles with each additional adult applicant, rather than being split as a household cap between spouses. That per person stacking of allowances in a couple is the single most misunderstood part of the planning.
The order the bank actually processes in
Because the FIA requires a TCS PIN and the SDA doesn’t, in practice the SDA portion is usually the quicker piece to move — no PIN, no SARS case to open first. The FIA portion waits on SARS issuing that TCS PIN, which itself has its own turnaround and its own expiry: PINs don’t last indefinitely, and Authorised Dealers must re-verify status and won’t transfer more than SARS approved on that PIN. If your plan depends on both allowances landing before a specific date, start the TCS PIN application well ahead of the SDA transfer, not after it.
What this means for a couple planning a big move
Anything above these combined limits doesn’t simply get refused — it goes to the SARB Financial Surveillance Department for case-by-case approval, which is a materially slower and more document-heavy process, built around proving where the money genuinely came from. For most emigrating families, combining both allowances within a single calendar year per adult is enough to avoid that route entirely, provided the timing is planned around the calendar year and the TCS PIN lead time.
None of this is tax or exchange-control advice tailored to your situation — the rules, especially post-2026, are detailed enough that a registered SA tax practitioner or an Authorised Dealer’s forex desk should confirm your specific numbers and dates before you move anything.
Cape2Canada’s free Proof of Funds & Moving Money guide covers the broader picture of settlement funds and getting rands out properly, if you’re still mapping out the whole transfer process.