How much can I send offshore without SARS approval?

Up to R1 million per year under your single discretionary allowance. SARS states plainly that no Tax Compliance Status is required for yearly transfers up to R1 million. Your bank processes amounts within this allowance directly. Only once you want to transfer more than R1 million in the year do you need an Approval of International Transfer.

Is the AIT a tax I have to pay?

No. The AIT is an approval, not a charge. SARS uses it to confirm that you are tax compliant and that the capital comes from a legitimate, taxed source. You are not paying SARS to move the money; you are proving the money is clean and your affairs are in order.

What documents do I need for an AIT?

Proof of the source of the capital (for example documents tracing a property sale, share sale, inheritance, donation, loan or crypto disposal) and bank statements issued no longer than 14 days before you submit the application. The exact source documents depend on where the funds came from.

How do I apply for the AIT?

Through the Tax Compliance Status functionality on SARS eFiling, by selecting the Approval International Transfer option and uploading the supporting documents. SARS reviews the application, may verify or audit it, and then issues the approval your bank needs before releasing the transfer.

- https://www.sars.gov.za/media-release/how-sars-has-changed-tax-compliance-status-reporting-for-transferring-funds-abroad/ - https://www.sars.gov.za/individuals/manage-your-tax-compliance-status/ - https://www.sars.gov.za/individuals/manage-your-tax-compliance-status/supporting-documents-for-obtaining-approval-international-transfers/

SARS Approval of International Transfer (AIT): When You Need It

You can transfer up to R1 million abroad in a year without any SARS approval. This is your single discretionary allowance, and SARS confirms it directly: "No TCS is required for yearly transfers up to R1 million." Once you want to move more than R1 million in a year, you need a SARS Approval of International Transfer (AIT), which you apply for through the Tax Compliance Status process on eFiling before your bank will release the funds.

The AIT is not a tax. It is SARS confirming that you are tax compliant and that the money you are sending offshore comes from a legitimate, taxed source.

The R1 million line

The R1 million single discretionary allowance is the amount a resident individual can send or take abroad each year for any legal purpose, without asking SARS first. Your bank handles it against your allowance. Below that line there is no AIT, no verification and no waiting for a SARS PIN.

Above R1 million, the picture changes. To use the further foreign capital allowance you must obtain an AIT, and the bank will ask for the SARS approval before it processes the transfer.

What the AIT actually checks

SARS uses the AIT application to satisfy itself of two things: that your tax affairs are in order, and that it can see where the capital came from. The application asks for more information than an ordinary tax compliance request precisely so SARS can confirm the source of the funds and, where something does not add up, run a verification or an audit before approving.

In practice that means the AIT is a document exercise. You are proving a clean source of capital and a clean compliance record, not paying anything to SARS to release the money.

The documents SARS wants

The supporting documents depend on where the money came from, but two requirements run through all of them.

First, proof of the funds and their source. SARS asks for "relevant material that demonstrates the source of the capital to be invested" and "proof of funds to be expatriated". If the capital came from selling a property or shares, an inheritance, a donation, a loan or the disposal of crypto assets, you provide the paperwork that traces it.

Second, current bank statements. SARS is specific on timing: "bank statements issued no longer than 14 days before the date that the AIT application is submitted." A statement older than that will not be accepted, so leave the download to the day you file.

A worked example

Say you want to move R2.5 million into an offshore investment account this year.

The first R1 million goes under your single discretionary allowance. Your bank processes it against that allowance with no SARS approval needed.

The balance is R2.5 million - R1 million = R1.5 million. That R1.5 million sits above the discretionary allowance, so you apply to SARS for an AIT covering it. You submit the source-of-capital documents and bank statements dated within 14 days, SARS confirms your compliance and the source, and it issues the approval that your bank needs before releasing the R1.5 million.

The R1 million and the R1.5 million are treated differently only because of the R1 million line, not because the money itself is different.

If you have ceased tax residency

The AIT application also handles transfers by people who have formally ceased to be South African tax residents. The current AIT was introduced with effect from 24 April 2023 and deliberately rolled the old foreign investment allowance and emigration processes into one application, after "emigration" fell away as an exchange control concept. If you have ceased residency, the ceasing tax residency article covers the exit side, and the AIT is how the remaining funds are approved for transfer.

Before you apply, it helps to have your general compliance confirmed. The tax clearance status article explains the underlying TCS mechanism the AIT runs on, the expat and foreign income guide sets out how your income is taxed once you are offshore, and the cross-border calculator helps you model the tax side of working across borders. It is also worth knowing that SARS already receives your offshore account data through the automatic exchange of information, so a clean source trail is not optional.