We needed to paint the garden wall and I had to break up the old trellis to separate it from the creepers which had intertwined with it. We were quoted about R15 000 for replacement trellisses and I figured I could do better. Here’s how – This is what I set out to achieve – D’you see the almost invisible trellis? First I pinned the wall 60cm apart horizontally and 40cm vertically Notice that this one is on a curved wall which solved another problem. Then, using 1.5mm braided stainless steel wire and electrical crimp unions I fitted the wire…
Author: zombie
I’m often asked to prepare a shareholders’ agreement. Why? Because there’s a perception that it is one of the things that you ought to do. Not in my view! Ask yourself these questions – 1) Will I ever understand all that legal jargon that makes up a Shareholders’ agreement and builds it to an impressive 5mm thick document? 2) What will I do with it when we have a bust up? Will I take my previous co-shareholder to court? Not if you’ve got any sense. 3) What do I really want? In my entire business life I have never signed…
I must meet an average of one startup each day. This is what I tell them about cooking on gas. The interesting thing about the market place is that most potential customers or clients want to buy. Their problem is finding a company that they want to buy from (that’s why shopping can be such hard work). And then all suppliers want to sell. Their problem is finding the customers or clients that will buy from them. So the function of the market place is to bring these two together and satisfy both parties’ needs. On these lines Google’s stated…
I am an avid reader of Financial Mail, but had to chuckle at their so called Special Report on funding your retirement (March 23 2017 issue). Firstly, it comprised a total of four articles and four large advertisements. Guess who wrote the articles! Then the advice. Below a picture of Richard Carter – “Investors need to make informed choices” Brilliant! Below a picture of Graham Thomas – “Client-centric offerings” Even more brilliant! Below a picture of Karl Liebenberger – “Investors should not consider anything less than an inflationary escalation” Wow! And below a pricture of Natalie Philips – “Packages should…
In his 2017 budget speech, Pravin Gordhan announced the “supertax” rate of 45% on individuals’ taxable income in excess of R1,5m per annum. This tax rate also applies to all taxable income earned by a trust (except a special trust). Should we be concerned? He also announced that Dividends Withholding Tax is increased from 15% to 20%. Again, should we be concerned? It all depends upon how you have structured your affairs. Let’s take Income Tax on trusts first. The effect of the change is that CGT on trusts also increases from 32.8% to 36%. None of this should matter…
Many people form a company and start a business without knowing what this really entails. So, here are the basics in FAQ format – What is a company? It is a legal entity (person, if you like) which is separate from those who own it and those who run it. Who owns a company? People, other companies, trusts or other legal entities buy shares in a company and the more shares they own the bigger their “shareholding” in the company. Who runs it? It is the Directors who run the company, not the shareholders. How does one get to be…
My grandson introduced me to the Japanese Abacus or Soroban in 2015 and I was completely blown away. Here’s how it works and what it does for your, or your child’s, brain. The abacus in its original form appears (Wikipedia) to date from as far back as 2700 – 2300 BC. It has gone through various stages and remains in Russia in the form that most of us are familiar with where there are 10 beads per rail for decimal counting (all images copied from Google) – This developed into the Chinese abacus which has a 5 and a 10…
So you are getting married. Congratulations! What are the essential things you need to know relating to tax, estate planning and asset protection? The first thing to consider is the nature of your marriage. There are a number of options – 1) A traditional marriage. In law this is a marriage in community of property. 2) Community of Property. The effect of this marriage is that the two separate estates (wealth) merge into one which is the shared property of both parties. On dissolution of the marriage, the two parties have equal claim to their joint estate and have to…
The Taxation Laws Amendment Act of 2016 is now a reality. Loans to trusts below the offical interest rate come under the spotlight, but don’t panic! As I advised when reviewing the Bill, the provision applies to loans to a trust by any person or company connected to that person free of interest or at an interest rate below the official rate (which is the repo rate plus 1%). The essential point is that the provisions apply to loans made directly or indirectly to trusts but I took specialist advice and was informed that the word indirectly does not apply…
The following allowable write off periods are extracted from SARS Interpretation Note 47 of 2009 which replaced Practice Notes 15, 19 and 39. Any one asset (or set of assets, such as a set of chairs) with a cost of less than R7 000 may be immediately expensed rather than capitalised. There are special wear and tear rules for Small Business Corporations. Asset type Years Adding machines 6 Air conditioners: Window type 6 Mobile 5 Room unit 10 Air conditioning assets (excluding pipes, ducting and vents): Air handling units 20 Cooling towers 15 Condensing sets 15 Chillers: Absorption type 25…
Many of you would like to the know fundamentals of a trust before we get into the detail. So here goes in the form of FAQs What are the benefits of having a trust? You’ll save as much as 38% of your wealth on death that would otherwise be paid in taxes. The trust assets are protected from your creditors. What taxes does the trust pay as a result of my death? None. What taxes would my estate pay on my death if I didn’t hold my assets in a trust? Estate Duty on the value of those assets at…
I have an attorney friend and client who was about to buy a residential property for rental and quite rightly wanted it to be owned by a company within a trust. The problem was that he didn’t have a trust yet and in those days we didn’t have shelf trusts. He needed to sign the deal straight away and asked my advice. I advised him to sign the deal on behalf of a “company yet to be formed”, then form the trust, then form the company with the trust as the owner. He didn’t take my advice and ended up…
The path to self realisation is never ending and we all step along it, treading in the footsteps of those who have passed this way before and leaving footprints for others to follow. Of the many lessons that we need to learn is to be kind to ourselves or, as my lovely wife, Helen, puts it “Do for yourself what you would do for others” This is her twist of “Do to others as you would wish them to do to you”. Her point is that whilst many of us take great care to encourage and support other people despite…
Who must register as provisional tax payers – All companies and CCs All individuals over 65 who 1) are carrying on a business and whose taxable income exceeds the threshold or 2) whose income from interest, foreign dividends and retail exceeds R120 000 All individuals under 65 who 1) are carrying on a business and whose taxable income exceeds the threshold or 2) whose income from interest, foreign dividends and retail exceeds R20 000 1st Provisional Tax Payment (due 6 months into the tax year to which it applies) SARS determines the “basic amount” from your last assessed taxable income.…
Donations Tax is levied at 20% on all donations (except to Public Benefit Organisations) by companies totalling in excess of R10 000 per annum and by individuals totalling in excess of R100 000 per annum, but how is this declared to SARS? The reason this comes up is that although this is very relevant to trusts and estate planning, we have never, during our 45 years in practice, submitted a Donations Tax Return on behalf of a client, so I actually had to Google it to find out what the return looks like. It is called an IT144 and is…
Annual Returns to CIPC are due during the month following that of the anniversary of the date of Incorporation (nothing to do with the Financial year end). If returns are not submitted, the company or CC will be de-registered by CIPC. When that happens, we have to apply to restore (actually reversing the de-registration). This is now either impossible or a nightmare process including advertising in the newspaper and other demanding requirements. Only after restoration are we able to determine which Annual Returns are outstanding and then submit the outstanding returns and pay the late fees. CIPC charge a fee…
When I recently checked our most read blog posts, I found that the explanation of Input and Output VAT was the most read at 8775, followed by an explanation of Exempt and Zero rated supplies at 8502. Clearly, there’s a big need for this sort of information so here’s a more complete guide – Output VAT VAT is charged by VAT registered vendors on most of their sales. They pay the VAT over to SARS as Output VAT (think of goods and services going OUT[put] from the vendor). Certain goods (particularly some foods) and services (such as interest charged) are…
Having problems collecting money from your debtors? Look at it this way – You like to read the daily newspaper in the morning, but you are short of cash. You say to me “Sell me today’s newspaper and I’ll pay you tomorrow”. So I make the “sale” and you become a debtor. Tomorrow, you want the newspaper again, but you only have enough money to pay me for yesterday’s. Which is more pressing, seeing today’s newsaper or paying for yesterday’s? You’re too embarrassed to come to me, so you go to another newspaper vendor and ask for today’s paper, telling…
Whether you need a business plan or whether you want to create a three year budget, our free financial projection workbook will help you plan the future and present your plan in a professional format. Although most startups only draw up a business plan when they are trying to raise finance, my view is that no business should start without one. Remember, if you can’t even plan your success on paper, then you are most unlikely to succeed in reality. All you need to do is download the workbook and make a copy under another name so that you always…
The was a scare recently relating to old Municipal Accounts and their attaching to the new owner of a property that has changed hands. Some Municipalities claimed that the new owner was liable for the old debts and threatened to cut off electricity and water supplies if those old debts remained unpaid. This can no longer be the case. A recent Pretoria High Court judgement has cleared the air. Only if the property was bought on sherrif’s auction does the new owner become liable for old Municipal debts attaching to the property. The case is currently on appeal to the…