1. Definitions

(1)     In this Act and in any regulations made thereunder, unless the context otherwise indicates –

“child”, in relation to any person, includes any person adopted by him –

(a)     under any law of the Republic; or

[Paragraph (a) substituted by section 5 of Act 86 of 1987]

(b)     under the law of any country other than the Republic, provided the adopted person is under such law accorded the status of a legitimate child of the adoptive parent and the adoption was made at a time when the adoptive parent was ordinarily resident in such country;

[Definition of “child” inserted by section 7 of Act 77 of 1964]

“close corporation” means a close corporation within the meaning of the Close Corporations Act, 1984 (Act No. 69 of 1984);

[Definition of “close corporation” inserted by section 6 of Act 97 of 1993]

“Commissioner” means the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service appointed in terms of section 6 of the South African Revenue Service Act, 1997 (Act No. 34 of 1997), or the Acting Commissioner designated in terms of section 7 of that Act;

[Definition of “Commissioner” deleted by section 7 of Act 77 of 1964, inserted by section 9 of Act 106 of 1980, substituted by section 34 of Act 34 of 1997 and section 271 of Act 28 of 2011 effective on 1 October 2012]

“company” includes any association incorporated or registered under any law in force in the Republic and any association which, although not so incorporated or registered, carries on business or has an office or place of business or maintains a share transfer register in the Republic;

“domestic policy” means any life policy as defined in section 1 of the Long-term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No. 52 of 1998), issued anywhere upon an application made or presented to a representative of an insurer (or to any person on behalf of such a representative) at any place in the Republic, excluding a life policy which has been made payable at a place outside the Republic at the request of the owner, but including any life policy issued outside the Republic which has subsequently been made payable in the Republic at the request of the owner;

[Definition of “domestic policy” inserted by section 6 of Act 30 of 2000]

“duty” means estate duty payable under this Act;

[Definition of “duty” amended by section 1 of Act 65 of 1960 and substituted by section 3 of Act 92 of 1971]

“executor” means any person to whom letters of administration or of executorship have been granted by a Master in respect of the estate of a deceased person under any law relating to the administration of estates, or whose appointment as assumed executor of such an estate has been endorsed by a Master under such law, or who liquidates or distributes such an estate in pursuance of a direction of a Master, and includes a person acting or authorized to act under letters of administration or of executorship granted outside the Republic but signed and sealed by a Master for use within the Republic and, in any case where the estate is not required to be administered under the supervision of the Master, the person administering the estate;

[Definition of “executor” substituted by section 3 of Act 92 of 1971]

“fair market value”, means –

(a)     the price which could be obtained upon a sale of the property between a willing buyer and a willing seller dealing at arm’s length in an open market; or

(b)     in relation to immovable property on which a bona fide farming undertaking is being  carried  on  in  the  Republic, the  amount determined by reducing the price which could be obtained upon a sale of the property between a willing buyer and a willing seller dealing at arm’s length in an open market by 30 per cent;

[Definition of “fair market value” inserted by section 1 of Act 59 of 1957, amended by section 1 of Act 65 of 1960 and section 7 of Act 87 of 1988 and substituted by section 1 of Act 32 of 2005]

“family company”, in relation to a deceased person, means any company (other than a company whose shares are quoted on a recognized stock exchange) which at any relevant time was controlled or capable of being controlled directly or indirectly, whether through a majority of the shares thereof or any other interest therein or in any other manner whatsoever, by the deceased or by the deceased and one or more of his relatives;

[Definition of “family company” inserted by section 7 of Act 77 of 1964, deleted by section 6 of Act 97 of 1993 and inserted by section 2 of Act 140 of 1993]