Part of your plan should include a risk management assessment and plan i.e. identify what could go wrong and have a plan to limit the impact on your business.
The Origin team of advisers can assist you with this essential and holistic risk management plan.
An appropriate short-term insurance solution is an essential part of this risk management plan. With over 200 years of collective experience in business risk management, Origin advisers can assist you in implementing this plan.

We provide assistance in the following areas:

• Fleet Insurance
• Directors and Officers Liability
• Structured and sell captive Insurance
• Professional Indemnity
• Broadform Liability
• Guarantees
• Cyber and eCommerce

As a business owner, I am sure we have all pondered on how we can support our employees, partners and stakeholders in a better way during the COVID-19 pandemic. Issues that come to mind during the lockdown are that as business owners, we would all like to keep on earning a decent income and pay all employees’ salaries plus all other business expenses. We would like to know our employees are members of a comprehensive medical aid plus have group life benefits to assist financially should they fall seriously ill or pass away. Thus, another part of the “summer body” plan is to assess your business in terms of the people involved. The Origin team of financial planners can assist you in implementing this plan.

A few areas to include in this plan:

• Buy and sell structures and business continuation plans and contracts
• Key-person and contingent liability structures
• Employee benefits; including pension and provident umbrella funds, group retirement annuities, group life and disability benefits.
• Group medical aid and GAP cover.

Let’s not forget to shape the whole body! How about those accounting records, financial statements, VAT returns, to name a few, that are not up to date? The Origin team also offers the advice and services of MST Tax and Accounting Group to assist you with these crucial records and assessments. Now is the time to also seek assistance for all these essential records plus a proper tax structure to incorporate all the insurance, business continuation plans and group benefits.

Contact your Origin partner now to attain the best “Business Summer Body” results!

Winter is the best time to shape up and reclaim your summer (and lockdown) bod. We all know this does not just happen but requires dedication, commitment, goals and above all, an action plan to attain it. We need to follow a healthy meal plan, exercise more plus restrict all those empty-calorie items from our diets!
Your business is no different and requires the same dedication, goals and plan to achieve those “business summer bod” results.

Part of your plan should include a risk management assessment and plan i.e. identify what could go wrong and have a plan to limit the impact on your business.
The Origin team of advisers can assist you with this essential and holistic risk management plan.
An appropriate short-term insurance solution is an essential part of this risk management plan. With over 200 years of collective experience in business risk management, Origin advisers can assist you in implementing this plan.

We provide assistance in the following areas:

-Fleet Insurance
– Directors and Officers Liability
– Structured and sell captive Insurance
– Professional Indemnity
– Broadform Liability
– Guarantees
– Cyber and eCommerce

As a business owner, I am sure we have all pondered on how we can support our employees, partners and stakeholders in a better way during the COVID-19 pandemic. Issues that come to mind during the lockdown are that as business owners, we would all like to keep on earning a decent income and pay all employees’ salaries plus all other business expenses. We would like to know our employees are members of a comprehensive medical aid plus have group life benefits to assist financially should they fall seriously ill or pass away. Thus, another part of the “summer body” plan is to assess your business in terms of the people involved. The Origin team of financial planners can assist you in implementing this plan.

A few areas to include in this plan:

– Buy and sell structures and business continuation plans and contracts
– Key-person and contingent liability structures
– Employee benefits; including pension and provident umbrella funds, group retirement annuities, group life and disability benefits.
– Group medical aid and GAP cover.

Let’s not forget to shape the whole body! How about those accounting records, financial statements, VAT returns, to name a few, that are not up to date? The Origin team also offers the advice and services of MST Tax and Accounting Group to assist you with these crucial records and assessments. Now is the time to also seek assistance for all these essential records plus a proper tax structure to incorporate all the insurance, business continuation plans and group benefits.

Contact your Origin partner now to attain the best “Business Summer Body” results!

The word “Origin” has the following definition that is of particular relevance to our brand and the promise we make to all our clients: “The place where something begins”.

You may ask: “Where what begins?” At Origin Financial we strive to establish a prosperous and long-term professional relationship, to stay committed to our clients and walk a path with you through the good times and the bad.

How do we do this? By listening to your needs and looking after your interests. By being able to help you put together a holistic financial plan and finding the most appropriate solutions to implement through a wide range of independent product providers.

Origin embraces financial planning through a multifaceted process that not only provides direction and meaning to your financial decisions, but also includes integration with your family, trust, business, employees and all connected persons and entities. A well-structured plan helps you identify how various aspects of your portfolio and finances ultimately affect your financial goals. As a result, we are able to offer the following services independently when walking the path through all phases of life with our clients:

• Financial and Estate Planning
• Long Term Insurance
• Retirement and Investment Planning
• Short Term Insurance (Personal and Business)
• Medical Aid and Gap Cover
• Business Assurance (to manage the risk in your business and continuity)
• Employee Benefits (to look after your employees and their families)
• Tax & Accounting Services (Personal & Business)
• Trust and Fiduciary Services (including the drawing of your will and trust deeds)
• Specialised advice areas to include share portfolio structuring and structured insurance or self-funding of risks.

The next time you interact with your Origin adviser for a review of your portfolio, he/she will treat the process as per the following personal experience from one of our advisers:

“After months of negotiations, I recently signed up a new client, Mr X. I was tasked with restructuring his personal and commercial short-term risks, and to compare and negotiate the best cover and structure for his needs. He is a businessman and he owns numerous properties, as well as being the Managing Director of a business called ZZZ.

“During our interactions and communication, I became aware of Mr X’s other needs: his concerns regarding taxes and fees in his estate, and the risks and other implications of his investment decisions. He was also unsure if his medical aid plan suits his family, as his son uses chronic medication, something the existing plan does not cover. His other concerns pertain to his staff’s absence from work when falling ill, and the future of the business if his manager, who is a specialist in her field, should become seriously ill or disabled.”

“I assured him that the Origin team of Wealth, Health, Wills and Tax & Accounting advisers can assist him through the entire range of financial solutions that we at Origin Financial offer. Our product ranges include short-term insurance, life assurance, medical aid, employee benefits, business assurance and contingency plans, investments, and taxation services and cover. I advised that we offer a full financial and needs analysis from certified experts in each of these fields”.

“Mr X is now fully aware that we offer the “one-stop- shop” model for all his financial needs and that we will interact with him regularly to include all financial planning aspects of his personal and business needs. Mr X has also taken up various of our holistic financial planning offers as he realises he will work with 2 or 3 certified planners in the Origin group, who will also review his unique financial plan regularly and keep him informed of industry-related changes.”

The Origin team looks forward to assisting you in all your risk and financial planning needs. Even now, during the lock down phases, when we all experience financial strain, let us review your whole portfolio as this will lead to proper calculated risks and could reduce benefits or help you find better premium options for the benefits you need.

While South Africa is currently in a state of lockdown during which a significant number of businesses have had to cease operations, some relief from a tax perspective has been announced by the government. Tax-compliant businesses with a turnover of less than R50 million will be allowed to defer (importantly, not have waived) 20% of their pay-as-you-earn liabilities over the next four months, and a portion of their provisional corporate income tax payments, without penalties or interest over the next six months.

There is, however, a legal and practical difficulty in the proposed relief.

Legal

While President Ramaphosa and his Cabinet have alluded to these relief mechanisms, they remain part of the Executive arm of Government. They cannot make law and amendments thereto; that is a function and privilege of the Legislature (Parliament). Without such relief mechanisms being legislated, SARS must impose penalties and interest on late- or short payments in line with existing legislation. It is highly unlikely that Parliament will be convened to make amendments to tax acts to accommodate for the relief. So, what can be done?

SARS can, through a so-called “practise generally prevailing” set-out their application of a tax act. Such a “practise generally prevailing” should be contained in an official SARS publication, which includes a Practise Note. It could, therefore, be considered that SARS issues a Practice Note to indicate how they will apply specific provisions which impose penalties and interest in certain instances. Although not yet tested in law, it is one of the options that could be considered to attach legal consequences to the relief mechanisms which have been proposed. It will be interesting to see what SARS decides to do in this case.

Practical

Persons who deal with compliance related matters will be well aware that penalties and interest are imposed automatically on statements of account when payments are submitted late, or short payments are made. Systems trigger these penalties and interest. Even though SARS’s eFiling system is one of the best electronic filing systems globally, it is unlikely that changes will be made thereto on such short notice.

Unless there is manual intervention from a SARS official, taxpayers who make use of the relief mechanisms, will automatically find themselves in a dispute process. Even though they are fully entitled to the relief (on the assumption that the relief gets properly legislated as indicated above), they will have to go through the process to have penalties and interest remitted.

We suggest, that before any of the relief mechanisms are utilised, taxpayers consult with advisors to ensure that firstly, the relief is legally available, and secondly, how they must manage the dispute process.

This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied upon as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your financial adviser for specific and detailed advice. Errors and omissions excepted (E&OE)

Binding Class Rulings (BCR) are issued in response to applications by a specific class of taxpayers (usually persons that will have the same tax consequences apply to them from a transaction) and clarifies how the Commissioner for SARS would interpret and apply the provisions of the tax laws relating to a specific proposed transaction.

BCR 068 determines the very technical consequences of transferring surplus retirement fund assets between funds and allocating assets from employer surplus accounts to retirement fund member accounts of members. Employers that are part of retirement funds should take note of the ruling and consult where necessary.

The ruling considers sections 1(1) (specific definitions in the “gross income” definition), 11F and paragraph 2(l) of the Seventh Schedule of the Income Tax Act (dealing with taxable fringe benefits).

The Parties to the ruling

• The Applicants are resident companies who are participating employers to the Co-applicants.
• Co-applicant 1 is a defined benefit pension fund.
• Co-applicant 2 is a defined contribution pension fund.
• Co-applicant 3 is a defined contribution provident fund.
• The class members are all qualifying members of the co-applicants, former employees or dependents of deceased employees.

Transactions which the members of the class propose to enter into

Since the class members are entitled to, and the applicants are liable to fund their post-retirement medical aid benefits, the applicants, with agreement by the class, wish to eliminate this liability towards members by:

• Allocating assets in the employer surplus account of co-applicant 1, to the retirement accounts of the class members of co-applicant 1.
• Transferring a portion of the assets of the employer surplus account of 1 to those of co-applicants 2 and 3.
• Allocating assets in the employer surplus account of co-applicants 2 and 3 to class member retirement accounts of these co-applicants.

Essentially, the applicants aimed to move surplus assets between the different funds without incurring tax costs, to the benefit of employees.

The Ruling

Contributions by the applicant to the co-applicant will constitute a fringe benefit and will be deducted by the class members in determining their taxable incomes. This would have been the case in any event and is not a contentious finding.

However, when the application transfer assets from the employer surplus accounts of co-applicant 1, to co-applicant 2 and 3, and lump sum allocations from the co-applicants to the member’s respective retirement accounts, no tax costs will arise, and specifically:

• Not constitute a taxable fringe benefit for the class members.
• Constitute an amount received by or accrued to class members subject to tax.
• Be deductible by class members when determining taxable income.

Class members will still be taxed on payments to them by co-applicants which constitute gross income, income or taxable income, irrespective of whether these are payments as a result of regular contributions, or surplus amounts allocated to class members.

This ruling is a very pragmatic approach to the re-distribution of surplus assets within retirement funds.

This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied upon as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your financial adviser for specific and detailed advice. Errors and omissions excepted (E&OE)

While Hamish has earned his retirement, we wish to point out that he will still be an ambassador for the Origin Group.

We wish Hamish all the best in his future endeavours and a happy life with all his family and friends.

To celebrate, we held our very own bake-off in our offices. Our staff members were divided into teams and each team had to decorate one cake. At the end of the bake-off, we had 10 delicious and equally as decorative cakes to judge. We weren’t too sure how we were going to be able to only pick ONE winner

After tasting all the delicious and beautifully decorated cakes, there was one clear winner. Congratulations to our winners!

After all the delicious fun we had at the bake-off, we wanted to spread the sweetness even further. We visited the Tygerberg Children’s Hospital and donated 5 of the delicious cakes for the children to enjoy.