The SA Revenue Service on Monday warned South Africans against cancelling property deals in order to cash in on the lower transfer duties that come into effect on March 1.

"It should be noted that where a property transaction is cancelled for the purposes of avoiding or evading transfer duty, there is no true cancellation of the agreement and duty will be raised as if the original agreement had not been cancelled," spokesperson Adrian Lackay said in a statement.

He added the issue had been settled in an Supreme Court of Appeal case: Secretary for Inland Revenue v Hartzenberg, in 1966.

In his Budget speech last week Finance Minister Trevor Manuel increased the threshold at which transfer duty becomes payable from R190 000 to R500 000.

Sapa

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