r/PersonalFinanceZA • u/Careless-Cat3327 • 6h ago
Taxes Tax Implications on selling a car & moving allowance
Hi All,
I'm in the process of immigrating.
I'll be selling my car this month & expecting an income of R300-R350k for it.
What will the tax implications be? My wife has no income so pays no tax. I thought maybe would be best the money goes into her account to minimize the tax rate?
Plus a moving allowance of R250k. Which has to come into my account.
Any advise is appreciated 👍
6
u/Consistent-Annual268 5h ago
You won't get taxed on selling your car, why would you? Otherwise no one would ever change cars.
If your relocation allowance is being paid into your SA bank account and not into your foreign bank account with your first month's salary (why would the company even do it that way? It's a huge risk you just take the money and run), then it becomes tricky. You are still an SA tax resident until the day after you leave the country (plus plenty of other considerations as well such as applying for tax migration) so this money will count as income for the 2026/27 tax year.
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u/Careless-Cat3327 5h ago
Genuinely never sold a car, I have only done a trade in twice so I wasn't sure if SARS would see it as income or if there a provision for it in the tax code to exclude.
I have tried to have this discussion with my company, as the money would be more useful on the other side but it's easier for them due to accounting purposes. The only "mitigation" they can offer is paying a supplier directly for moving expenses however that's like R30k so really not a massive chunk of the total allowance.
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u/Consistent-Annual268 4h ago
Let them pay the supplier directly and pay you the balance. At least it reduces your income for tax purposes.
The only other thing you can do is ask them to delay the balance of payment to you until you're out of country. If you then apply for tax migration you could possibly claim that payment under your new tax country so SARS will not tax that payment.
Definitely speak to a tax advisor about all of this. Somethings are possible, others not so much. But a tax guy will know it all properly.
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