IEASA National - News

New transfer duty procedures suggest transfer delays   Article Date :4 Jul 2005 Tax affairs could hold transfer up. Concern has been raised that the new transfer duty procedures and forms which were introduced by the South African Revenue Services a few weeks ago will cause delays in property transfers. Bill Rawson, national president of the Institute of Estate Agents, says that sellers and buyers need to take this into account, and that estate agents will have to advise them appropriately. In essence, if a seller's tax affairs are not up to date, SARS can hold up transfer of the property until the arrears are cleared. ‘The new procedures and forms have been designed to enable SARS to cross-check each pending property transfer against the seller's and buyer's tax records,’ says Rawson. Evidently, when the conveyancer pays in the transfer duty, SARS will check up on the seller's and buyer's taxes, and if there is a problem SARS will withhold the transfer duty receipt. Without the receipt, transfer cannot go through.’ Rawson therefore recommends that sellers and buyers sort out any tax problems they may have before they go into the property market, to avoid problems cropping up at the transfer stage, after they have committed themselves to the contract of sale. ‘This is something about which estate agents will have to provide professional advice,’ he says. ‘At some point - perhaps when drawing up the mandate to sell - the agent should advise the seller of the new policy. Likewise, when negotiating the offer, the agent should advise the buyer. This will have to be done tactfully, to avoid giving offence, and the estate agent should emphasise that he or she is merely carrying out a professional obligation, and not prying into people's personal affairs.’ The new transfer duty forms are available on the SARS website: www.sars.gov.za CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE MAIN NEWS PAGE