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SatrixNOW CRS FAQ Article 

South Africa has signed an agreement that requires sharing of information between the local tax authorities of different countries about financial accounts and investments. 

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is an information-gathering and reporting requirement for financial institutions in participating countries/jurisdictions, to help fight against tax evasion and protect the integrity of tax systems. Compliance with CRS is required in South Africa by law by financial institutions.

The Common Reporting Standards (“CRS”) is an Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development (“OECD”) initiative that encourages the exchange of information on a global scale between revenue authorities in order to ensure completeness of income reported by taxpayers who have investments outside their country of tax residence. The CRS is a spin-off from US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) that requires tax reporting on US investors or entities controlled by US investors who hold financial accounts outside the US where non US participating jurisdictions have entered into agreements to do so.

CRS is a separate legal instrument to FATCA. The due diligence procedures required for the CRS and FATCA are similar, but the manner in which the data will be reported to SARS is the same.

Satrix Investments (herein referred to as Satrix) is a Reporting Financial Institution which is required to report to the South African Revenue Services (SARS) specific information with respect to each Reportable Account it manages, after application of the due diligence procedures as described in the Regulations1.

The due diligence procedures require Satrix to identify the jurisdiction in which an account holder or a controlling person of a Passive Non-Financial Entity is resident for the purposes of any tax imposed by the law of that jurisdiction.

Satrix must therefore obtain a self-certification either as part of its account opening process or where a change of circumstances occurred with respect to a Financial Account. The information allows Satrix to reasonably determine the Account Holder's residence(s) for tax purposes and confirm the reasonableness of such self-certification based on the information obtained, including any documentation collected pursuant to AML/KYC Procedures. 

1Regulation No. R. 1070 of 09 October 2020 and Intergovernmental Agreement between the United States of America and South Africa (FATCA); and CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CRS MCAA) of 2014.

South Africa entered into an agreement with the United States to improve international tax compliance and to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The date of entry into force was 28 October 2014.

South Africa is also a party to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance on Tax Matters as well as a number of bilateral tax information exchange agreements. As a signatory to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, also referred to as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), South Africa enacted domestic enabling legislation. The first exchange date was September 2017. South Africa also has bilateral CRS agreements with Hong Kong, Qatar, and Singapore. South Africa has also entered into a number of Bilateral Country-by-Country (CbC) Competent Authority Agreements to exchange CbC reports.

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Satrix Managers (RF) (Pty) Ltd (Satrix) a registered and approved Manager in Collective Investment Schemes in Securities and an authorised financial services provider in terms of the FAIS. Collective investment schemes are generally medium- to long-term investments. Unit Trusts and ETFs the investor essentially owns a “proportionate share” (in proportion to the participatory interest held in the fund) of the underlying investments held by the fund. With Unit Trusts, the investor holds participatory units issued by the fund while in the case of an ETF, the participatory interest, while issued by the fund, comprises a listed security traded on the stock exchange.

ETFs are index tracking funds, registered as a Collective Investment and can be traded by any stockbroker on the stock exchange or via Investment Plans and online trading platforms. ETFs may incur additional costs due to it being listed on the JSE. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and the value of investments / units may go up or down. A schedule of fees and charges, and maximum commissions are available on the Minimum Disclosure Document or upon request from the Manager. Collective investments are traded at ruling prices and can engage in borrowing and scrip lending. Should the respective portfolio engage in scrip lending, the utility percentage and related counterparties can be viewed on the ETF Minimum Disclosure Document. The Manager does not provide any guarantee either with respect to the capital or the return of a portfolio. The index, the applicable tracking error and the portfolio performance relative to the index can be viewed on the ETF Minimum Disclosure Document and or on the Satrix website.

Performance is based on NAV to NAV calculations of the portfolio. Individual performance may differ to that of the portfolio as a result of initial fees, actual investment date, dividend withholding tax and income reinvestment date. The reinvestment of income is calculated based on actual distributed amount and factors such as payment date and reinvestment date must be considered.

*Note exchange prices are delayed in accordance with regional exchange rules.South African prices are delayed by 15 minutes; North American prices are delayed by 15 minutes.