Your SARS Obligations from the UK
Do you still need to file a South African tax return? What do you declare? And what's this Section 10 exemption everyone mentions but nobody explains properly?
What this guide covers
Here's the question we get more than any other from South Africans who've been in the UK for a few years: "Do I still need to file a SARS return?"
And here's the answer most people get from expat Facebook groups: "Nah, you've left, forget it."
That advice is wrong for the majority of people who follow it. SARS doesn't care that you've moved. They care whether you're still a South African tax resident in their books. And unless you've formally ceased your tax residency through the SARS process, you almost certainly are. Which means filing obligations continue, foreign income may need to be declared, and the rules around exemptions become directly relevant to your situation.
This guide walks through the whole filing question for SA expats in the UK. It covers when you need to file, what you declare, how the Section 10(1)(o)(ii) foreign employment income exemption works, how the SA-UK Double Taxation Agreement protects you from paying tax twice, and what changes if you eventually cease tax residency. It also covers what WBForex's SARS tax services do for clients who'd rather hand the filing over to someone who does this every week.
We wrote it because the gap between what people believe about their SARS obligations and what's actually true is wide enough to cause real problems — penalties, compliance flags, and blocked transfers when they eventually need to move money.
Inside the guide
- 1Are you still a SA tax resident? The test SARS actually applies
- 2Filing obligations: when you must file and what you need to declare
- 3Section 10(1)(o)(ii): the foreign employment income exemption — who qualifies and what it covers
- 4The SA-UK Double Taxation Agreement: how it prevents you from being taxed twice
- 5What income SARS still taxes, even if you qualify for the exemption
- 6Penalties for non-filing: what happens if you've stopped filing and SARS catches up
- 7When cessation of tax residency makes more sense than annual filing
- 8How WBForex handles SARS returns for UK-based clients
The guide SARS should send to every South African who leaves the country. But doesn't.
Five things most UK-based South Africans get wrong about SARS
1Moving to the UK doesn't automatically end your SA tax obligations.
Unless you've formally ceased your tax residency through SARS, you remain a South African tax resident regardless of where you live. SARS considers you tax resident if South Africa is where you are "ordinarily resident" or if you meet the physical presence test. For most expats who haven't gone through the cessation process, their SA tax obligations continue in full — including the requirement to file annual returns.
2The Section 10 exemption isn't automatic — you have to claim it correctly.
Section 10(1)(o)(ii) exempts the first R1.25 million of foreign employment income from SA tax, provided you spend more than 183 days outside South Africa in any 12-month period (with at least 60 of those days being continuous). But the exemption only applies to employment income — not investment income, rental income, or dividends. And you still need to declare the income on your SARS return and claim the exemption. It doesn't apply itself.
3The Double Taxation Agreement doesn't mean you don't file — it means you don't pay twice.
The SA-UK DTA prevents the same income from being taxed by both countries. But it doesn't remove your obligation to file. You still declare your worldwide income to SARS if you're a tax resident, and the DTA provisions are then applied to prevent double taxation. This is a common source of confusion — people assume the DTA means they can stop filing. It doesn't.
4Investment income, rental income, and dividends are not covered by Section 10.
The Section 10(1)(o)(ii) exemption only applies to foreign employment income. If you earn rental income from SA property, receive dividends from SA investments, or have interest income from SA bank accounts, these are taxable regardless of the exemption. Many expats focus entirely on their salary and forget that SARS still has a claim on their SA-sourced passive income.
5If you've stopped filing, the fix is usually straightforward — but the longer you wait, the worse it gets.
SARS imposes administrative penalties for late or non-filing, and these accumulate over time. If you've been in the UK for several years without filing, the right move is to bring your returns up to date as soon as possible. In most cases, the actual tax liability is minimal (because of the Section 10 exemption and DTA), but the penalties for non-filing are real. WBForex handles the catch-up process for clients who've fallen behind.
Common questions about SARS obligations for UK-based South Africans
Official sources referenced in this guide
These are the regulatory and government bodies that govern cross-border transfers from South Africa. We've linked directly to the relevant pages so you can verify anything in the guide against the primary source.
- South African Revenue Service (SARS)Tax returns, Section 10 exemption, cessation of residency, penalties
- HMRC (UK)UK tax residency, PAYE, Common Reporting Standard
- National TreasuryTax policy, Section 10 thresholds, budget announcements
- Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)FSP licensing and regulatory oversight
Last reviewed: April 2026. WBForex reviews this guide quarterly to reflect regulatory and budget changes.
Download the SA Expat Tax Return Guide
A clear, practical guide to your SARS obligations from the UK. Whether you've been filing every year or haven't filed since you left, this guide gives you the full picture — what you owe, what you're exempt from, and what to do next.
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