Send Money Out of South Africa: The Allowance Doubled and the Official Guide Has Not Caught Up

If you send money out of South Africa — leaving, supporting family abroad, investing offshore, or just paying for something in another currency — the amount you may send without asking anyone's permission doubled this year, and most of what you will read still quotes the old figure.

Including, awkwardly, the Reserve Bank's own guide for individuals.

What changed, and exactly when

On 8 April 2026 the Financial Surveillance Department issued Exchange Control Circular No. 6/2026. Its wording is not ambiguous:

limits for this single discretionary allowance of R1 million and R200 000 mentioned therein are increased to R2 million and R400 000, respectively, effective from the date of this Circular

The circular then rewrites the definition itself: the single discretionary allowance "means the R2 million allowance available to residents (natural persons) 18 years and older per calendar year." It follows an announcement by the Minister of Finance in the 2026 Budget Speech.

Why almost every source still says R1 million

Here is the part worth knowing before you go and check for yourself.

The document a member of the public would naturally reach for — the Reserve Bank's Currency and Exchanges guidelines for individuals — is version 1.69, issued 7 January 2026. That is three months before the circular. At section 3.1.1 it still reads "a single discretionary allowance within a limit of R1 million per calendar year", and it has not been reissued to match.

So the regulator's consumer-facing guide and the regulator's own circular currently disagree, and the guide is the one that is behind. If you read only the guidelines — or any explainer that cites them — you will conclude the limit is half what it now is.

The circular is the operative instrument. It amends the Authorised Dealer Manual, which is what your bank actually works from.

The two allowances, and the difference that matters

South African residents aged 18 and over have two separate annual dispensations, and confusing them is the most common expensive mistake.

The foreign capital allowance was not changed by the circular. It remains R10 million, and it remains the one that requires you to go to SARS first.

On the discretionary allowance, the guidelines are explicit that it may be used "for any legitimate purpose... at the discretion of the individual without any documentary evidence having to be produced to the Authorised Dealer" — with one carve-out: travel outside the Common Monetary Area, where prescribed documentation is required.

Together that is R12 million a year, per individual. A couple who each hold a green bar-coded ID or smart ID card each have their own.

What happens if you need to send more

Two different answers, depending on which line you are crossing.

Above the discretionary allowance. The guidelines say such transfers are "subject to verification by the Financial Surveillance Department and be approved upon submission of proof of the bona fide nature and legitimacy of the transfer". For anything of a capital nature, a SARS TCS PIN is required regardless.

Above R10 million. SARS requires a Manual Letter of Compliance on top of the ordinary process.

And a detail that quietly derails applications: bank statements supporting an Approval for International Transfer must be issued no more than 14 days before the application is submitted. Statements pulled a month ago while you gathered everything else will be rejected as stale — get them last, not first.

The limits also cannot simply be exceeded and explained afterwards: they "may not be exceeded without prior Financial Surveillance Department approval". And a TCS PIN can expire — if it has, your bank must insist on a new one before moving anything.

If you are leaving for good

Ceasing to be a South African tax resident carries its own once-off treatment, and the circular improved it.

In the same calendar year that your residency ceases you may transfer up to R2 million as a travel allowance with no TCS PIN letter. The circular is firm about the shape of this: it "is a once-off dispensation and cannot be used in subsequent calendar years", and "any unused portion may not be carried over to a subsequent year." Use it in the right year or lose it.

In that same year, household and personal effects up to R2 million per family unit may be exported under a SARS Customs Declaration — and note the circular's phrasing, that such transactions "will be treated similar to cash". Your furniture counts against a money limit.

We are not covering the tax side of ceasing residency here. The deemed-disposal capital gains event that triggers when you break tax residency is a separate and consequential subject, and it is not sourced on this page — do not read silence as "there is nothing there".

Smaller allowances people miss

• Krugerrands — up to R30 000 in coins may be exported as gifts to non-residents, in addition to the discretionary allowance.
• Rand notes — up to R25 000 per person may be taken out alongside the travel allowance, for your immediate needs on return.
• Under-18s get no discretionary allowance at all, but their travel allowance rose to R400 000 per calendar year under the same circular.
• Students abroad may use the discretionary allowance, and tuition can be paid directly to the institution against documentary evidence rather than counting against it.

Two timing rules catch travellers. A travel allowance may not be taken more than 60 days before departure, and needs a valid passenger ticket. And unused foreign currency must be resold within 30 days of returning — the exception being business travellers whose next trip starts within 90 days.

What this page does not cover

The tax consequences of emigrating, as above.

Trusts and companies. Every dispensation here is for individuals — "residents (natural persons)". A trust or company is a different regime.

The full AIT document list. What SARS wants varies by where the money came from — savings, a donation, an inheritance, a loan, a property sale, crypto — and each category has its own requirements.

How long a TCS PIN lasts. The guidelines say only that it can expire. No duration is stated, so we are not inventing one.

About the source

The R2 million and R400 000 figures, the effective date and the cease-to-be-resident dispensations come from South African Reserve Bank Exchange Control Circular No. 6/2026, dated 8 April 2026. The allowance mechanics, the Krugerrand and rand-note limits and the travel-allowance conditions come from the SARB's Currency and Exchanges guidelines for individuals, version 1.69 (7 January 2026) — which, as set out above, still carries the superseded R1 million figure at 3.1.1. The 14-day bank-statement rule and the Manual Letter of Compliance threshold come from SARS, Supporting Documents for Approval of International Transfers.

Exchange control changes by circular, sometimes faster than the guidance documents are reissued. Confirm the current position with your Authorised Dealer, the Reserve Bank or SARS before moving money. This is general information, not financial or tax advice.

How does this affect YOUR Money OS?

If offshore transfers are part of your plan, the ceiling on what you can move without asking permission just doubled — and the allowance runs per calendar year, so an unused one does not roll over. That makes it a timing decision, not only an amount one.

Check my free OS score

FAQ

How much can I send out of South Africa without permission? R2 million per calendar year under the single discretionary allowance if you are 18 or older, with no tax clearance and, except for travel outside the CMA, no documentary evidence required.

When did it go up from R1 million? On 8 April 2026, by Exchange Control Circular No. 6/2026, following the 2026 Budget Speech.

Why does the Reserve Bank's guide still say R1 million? The guidelines for individuals are version 1.69, dated 7 January 2026 — three months before the circular — and have not been reissued. The circular is the operative instrument and amends the Authorised Dealer Manual your bank works from.

What is the foreign capital allowance? A separate R10 million per calendar year, unchanged by the circular, which does require a SARS tax compliance status PIN.

So what is the total per year? R12 million per individual — R2 million discretionary plus R10 million capital — and each qualifying person has their own.

What if I need to move more than that? Transfers above the limits need prior Financial Surveillance Department approval, and above R10 million SARS requires a Manual Letter of Compliance.

How recent must my bank statements be? Issued no more than 14 days before you submit the AIT application.

What do I get when I leave permanently? In the calendar year your tax residency ceases, a once-off R2 million travel allowance with no TCS PIN letter, plus household and personal effects to R2 million. Neither carries over to a later year.

Can children use the allowance? No. Under-18s get no discretionary allowance, but their travel allowance rose to R400 000 per calendar year.

Related

• The 91/915-day rule: when SA tax residency actually starts
• The R1.25m exemption probably isn't yours
• Getting paid from the USA to South Africa