Recap on some points concerning TFSA's ...
From Moneyweb
In order to contextualise the answer it is important to understand that both
ETFs and unit trusts are portfolios established under registered collective
investment schemes regulated by the Financial Services Board. That means that
they are pooled vehicles whereby the assets held in the portfolio are acquired
using investors’ funds and are collectively managed by the asset manager.
As the shares and other securities are held in the collect investment scheme,
SARS will not treat a sale as trading income. This is different to direct share
investments, where proceeds may be treated as income if a share is held for less
than three years.
With collective investment schemes only capital gains tax (CGT) will be applied
on the sale of units. This is even though they may have been bought monthly and
held for less than three years.
On top of this, it is also important to note that all the income received by way
of distributions is taxed in the hands of the investor in the tax year in which
it is received. Income distributions comprise mainly actual dividends declared
by the underlying constituents held in the portfolio.
The dividends received by the portfolio are subject to dividends withholding tax
at a South African rate of 15% for taxpayers that are not exempt in terms of the
Income Tax Act. The dividends withholding tax will be deducted by the final
regulated intermediary and paid over to SARS.
Therefore all distributions will be received by the investor net of dividends
withholding tax. Distributions also include interest and scrip lending income
(if applicable), which will be taxed as normal income in the hands of the
investor.
That means that the only tax you will pay at the point of selling your securities is CGT.
This is calculated based on the current ETF price less the ‘base cost’.
From Treasury (older document)
Exchange traded funds
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) that are registered as collective
investment schemes (CIS) will be allowed in the accounts 8,
providing exposure to a diversified pool of securities at a relatively
low cost. Exchange traded notes and ETFs that are not registered as
CISs have lower regulatory requirements and some of these non-CIS
products, such as the Gold ETFs, are not sufficiently diversified.
Although products such as the Gold ETFs may act as a good hedge
when used as part of a broader portfolio, they may be inappropriate
as a single investment. ETF’s and exchange traded notes that are not
registered as CISs are not recommended for inclusion.
And for those who think they can willy nilly 'trade' their ETF's
However, once money is withdrawn from the account, any additional deposits will
be subject to the annual capital contribution limit of R30 000 (and the lifetime
capital contribution limit of R500 000), she says. Any contributions made, even
if subsequently withdrawn from the savings account, will therefore forever be
counted under the R500 000 lifetime limit.
For example: If Investor A deposits R30 000 into a tax-free savings account on
March 1 2015, and another R30 000 on March 1 2016, and withdraws R15 000 on
October 1 2016, the investor won’t be able to put the R15 000 back until March 1
2017 because they have already reached the R30 000 capital contribution limit
for that tax year (March 1 2016 to February 28 2017).
