15. Recovery of duty paid in certain cases
Any person who has disposed of property in respect of which a liability for duty in accordance with sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of section 11, thereafter arises, without having received full consideration therefor, may recover from the person to whom he has disposed of such property the amount of duty payable by him in respect thereof.
16. Deduction of transfer duty and donations tax
There shall be deducted from any duty payable under this Act –
(a) any transfer duty which is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner to have been paid in respect of the acquisition from the deceased or his estate of any property included in the estate for the purposes of the assessment of duty, by any person liable for the duty attributable to that property;
(b) ……….
[Paragraph (b) amended by section 11 of Act 77 of 1964 and deleted by section 15 of Act 87 of 1988]
(c) without in any way modifying or adding to the rights of any person under an agreement entered into by the Government of the Republic with the Government of any other country or territory relating to the prevention of or relief from double taxation in respect of estate duty, any amount of any death duties proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner to have been paid to any other State in respect of any property situate outside the Republic and included in the estate of any person who at the date of his death was ordinarily resident in the Republic: Provided that the deduction under this paragraph shall not exceed the duty imposed on such property by this Act.
[Paragraph (c) added by section 5 of Act 65 of 1960]
18. No property to be delivered by executor before duty provided for
Before delivering or transferring any property of the deceased to any heir or legatee the executor shall satisfy the Commissioner that due provision has been made for the payment of any duty payable under this Act.
19. ……….
20. Expenditure incurred by executor
Every executor who is required to incur any expenditure in respect of any property which falls under paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (2) or under subsection (3) of section 3, shall be entitled to recover such expenditure from the person liable, in accordance with section eleven, for the duty payable in respect of such property.
21. ……….
[Section 21 repealed by section 8 of Act 81 of 1985]
22. ……….
[Section 22 repealed by section 8 of Act 81 of 1985]
23. …………
[Section 23 amended by section 6 of Act 81 of 1965, substituted by s 10 of Act 30 of 2000 and repealed by section 271 of Act 28 of 2011 effective on 1 October 2012]
24. ………….
[Section 24 amended by section 17 of Act 59 of 1956, section 5 of Act 59 of 1957 and section 11 of Act 71 of 1961, substituted by section 15 of Act 77 of 1962, amended by section 12 of Act 77 of 1964, section 2 of Act 104 of 1976, section 8 of Act 86 of 1987, section 10 of Act 97 of 1993, section 8 of Act 27 of 1997 and section 9 of Act 53 of 1999, substituted by section 15 of Act 60 of 2001 amended by section 11 of Act 45 of 2003 and repealed by section 271 of Act 28 of 2011 effective on 1 October 2012]
25. ………….
[Section 25 amended by section 16 of Act 77 of 1962, substituted by section 9 of Act 86 of 1987, amended by section 11 of Act 97 of 1993 and repealed by section 271 of Act 28 of 2011 effective on 1 October 2012]
26. Prevention of, or relief from double taxation
(1) The National Executive may enter into an agreement with the Government of any other country, whereby arrangements are made with such Government with a view to the prevention, mitigation or discontinuance of the levying, under the laws of the Republic and of such other country, of estate duty in respect of the same property or to the rendering of reciprocal assistance in the administration of, and in the collection of estate duty under the laws relating to estate duty in force in the Republic and in such other country.
[Subsection (1) substituted by section 9 of Act 27 of 1997]
(2) As soon as may be after the approval of Parliament of any such agreement, as contemplated in section 231 of the Constitution, the arrangements thereby made shall be notified by publication in the Gazette and the arrangements so notified shall thereupon have effect as if enacted in this Act.
[Subsection (2) amended by section 13 of Act 77 of 1964 and substituted by section 9 of Act 27 of 1997]
(3) ……….
[Subsection (3) amended by section 5 of Act 99 of 1981 and deleted by section 9 of Act 27 of 1997]
(4) ……….
[Subsection (4) deleted by section 9 of Act 27 of 1997]
(5) ……….
[Subsection (5) amended by section 5 of Act 99 of 1981 and deleted by section 9 of Act 27 of 1997]
27. ……….
[Section 27 amended by section 10 of Act 27 of 1997 and repealed by section 271 of Act 28 of 2011 effective on 1 October 2012]
29. Regulations
The Minister of Finance may make regulations for the better carrying out of the objects and purposes of this Act, including regulations as to the valuation of annuities or of fiduciary, usufructuary or other limited interests in property and the hearing of an appeal under section 24.
[Section 29 substituted by section 4 of Act 89 of 1972 and section 3 of Act 92 of 1983 and amended by section 46 of Act 97 of 1986]
30. ………….
[Section 30 repealed by section 271 of Act 28 of 2011 effective on 1 October 2012]
31. Repeal of laws
(1) The laws set out in the Second Schedule are hereby repealed to the extent set out in the third column of the said Schedule: Provided that the said laws shall continue to apply in relation to the estate of any person who died before the first day of April, 1955.
(2) Any agreement entered into and any proclamation issued under section thirty six bis of the Death Duties Act, 1922 (Act No. 29 of 1922), and in force at the date of commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have been entered into or issued also under section twenty six of this Act.
32. Short title and date of commencement
This Act shall be called the Estate Duty Act, 1955, and shall be deemed to have come into operation on the first day of April, 1955.
|
Number and Year of Law |
Title |
Extent of Repeal |
|
Act No. 29 of 1922 |
Death Duties Act, 1922 |
The whole |
|
Act No. 31 of 1925 |
Death Duties Act, 1922, Amendment Act, 1925 |
The whole |
|
Act No. 34 of 1930 |
Financial Adjustments Act, 1930 |
Section ten |
|
Act No. 64 of 1934 |
Finance Act, 1934 |
Section ten |
|
Act No. 33 of 1939 |
Finance Act, 1939 |
Section twelve |
|
Act No. 23 of 1942 |
Death Duties Amendment Act, 1942 |
The whole |
|
Act No. 33 of 1944 |
Death Duties Amendment Act, 1944 |
The whole |
|
Act No. 46 of 1945 |
Finance Act, 1945 |
Sections sixteen and seventeen |
|
Act No. 60 of 1951 |
Death Duties Amendment Act, 1951 |
The whole |
|
Act No. 33 of 1954 |
Death Duties Amendment Act, 1954 |
The whole |
First Schedule
RATE OF ESTATE DUTY
(1) The rate of estate duty shall be—
(a)
(i) 20 per cent of the dutiable amount of the estate as does not exceed R30 million; and
(ii) 25 per cent of the dutiable amount of the estate as exceeds R30 million; or
[Paragraph (a) substituted by section 1(1) of Act 21 of 2018 effective on 1 March, 2018 and applicable in respect of the estate of a person that dies on or after that date]
(b) a percentage of the dutiable amount of the estate as the Minister of Finance may announce in the national annual budget contemplated in section 27(1) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999), with effect from a date mentioned in that announcement:
[Words preceding the proviso substituted by section 4 of Act 15 of 2016 effective on 19 January 2017]
Provided that where duty becomes payable upon the value of any movable or immovable property or on a value determined by reference to the value of any movable or immovable property, and duty has, upon the death of any person (hereinafter referred to as the first-dying person), who died within ten years prior to the death of the deceased, become payable upon the value of that movable or immovable property or upon a value determined by reference to the value of that movable or immovable property (or any movable or immovable property for which the Commissioner is satisfied that that movable or immovable property has been substituted), the duty attributable to the value of that movable or immovable property or, as the case may be, the value determined by reference to the value of that movable or immovable property, but not exceeding (in either case) an amount equal to the value on which duty has become payable on the death of the first-dying person, shall be reduced by a percentage according to the following scale –
if the deceased dies within two years of the death of the first-dying person 100 per cent
if the deceased dies more than two years, but not more than four years after the death of the first-dying person 80 per cent
if the deceased dies more than four years, but not more than six years after the death of the first-dying person 60 per cent
if the deceased dies more than six years, but not more than eight years after the death of the first-dying person 40 per cent
if the deceased dies more than eight years, but not more than ten years after the death of the first-dying person 20 per cent
subject to a maximum reduction equal to so much of the duty previously payable upon the death of the first-dying person as is attributable to the value of that movable or immovable property or, as the case may be, to an amount equal to the value determined by reference to the value of that movable or immovable property, and as is proved to the satisfaction of the Commissioner to have been borne by the deceased.
(2) If the Minister of Finance makes an announcement contemplated in subparagraph 1(b), that rate comes into effect on the date determined by the Minister in that announcement and continues to apply for a period of 12 months from that date subject to Parliament passing legislation giving effect to that announcement within that period of 12 months.
[Paragraph (2) added by section 4 of Act 15 of 2016 effective on 19 January 2017]
[First Schedule amended by section 6 of Act 59 of 1957, by section 12 of Act 71 of 1961 and by section 14(1) of Act 77 of 1964, substituted by section 8 of Act 81 of 1965, amended by section 1(1) of Act 75 of 1968, substituted by section 9(1) of Act 92 of 1971 and amended by section 13(1) of Act 106 of 1980, by section 3(1) of Act 71 of 1986, by section 16(1) of Act 87 of 1988, by section 11(1) of Act 37 of 1996, by section 4(1) of Act 5 of 2001, by section 4 of Act 15 of 2016 and by section 1(1) of Act 21 of 2018]