For the past decade, the major trend in the South African investment space has been the growing number of local investors looking to offshore investments to hedge their earnings against a volatile rand, says Coreen van der Merwe, director of Sovereign Trust SA Limited.
Now, we’re seeing the next big trend: a strong interest in foreign residency and citizenship by investment programmes, as people look for a second residency or citizenship for personal and business reasons.
There’s a common misconception that individuals invest in RCBI programmes with the sole intention of enabling their families to emigrate. Whilst this is a requirement of certain programmes – the UK and US, for example – in most instances, this is not the case. Portugal is popular with many South Africans looking for a path to European Union residency – and ultimately, citizenship – for themselves and their families. Portuguese residency unlocks visa-free mobility across the entire European Schengen area, and offers an excellent quality of life with relatively low tax burdens and investment barriers.
Part of the attraction of Mauritius for foreign investors has always been its simple taxation system: company, personal income, capital gains and dividend incomes are all taxed at a rate of 15%, with further tax concessions available.
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