← All posts

Withdraw your retirement annuity after emigrating from South Africa? Three unbroken years come first

Tips · 2026-10-23 · 10 min read

You can withdraw your retirement annuity after emigrating from South Africa, but not on the day you leave. SARS's tax directive guide says members of a retirement annuity fund or a preservation fund can take the full benefit before retirement only once they have ceased to be resident for an uninterrupted period of three years or longer. The quick "Emigration Withdrawal" route is closed for applications made on or after 1 September 2024.

Below: what the rule says, when your three years start, and how to prepare from Australia or New Zealand. It is general information from SARS and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), not tax or financial advice, and it does not try to estimate what you will pay.

The rule in SARS's own words, piece by piece

The guide is SARS's external tax directive guide on ceasing to be resident and expiry of visas, effective 17 April 2026. It says members of a retirement annuity fund or preservation fund who have ceased to be resident for an uninterrupted period of three years or longer can withdraw the full benefit before retirement. Those rules have applied since 1 March 2021.

Four phrases carry the weight.

• "Retirement annuity fund or preservation fund." These are the two fund types named. Not sure which you have? Your benefit statement or the fund will tell you.
• "Ceased to be resident." This is the SARS tax status, not your visa, your passport or where your furniture is. It is a step you declare, covered below.
• "Uninterrupted." The three years must run without a break. If you might come home for a long stretch in that time, ask SARS or a tax practitioner how it affects the count before you book the flight.
• "The full benefit." Once the condition is met, the guide allows the whole benefit to come out before retirement, not just part of it.

You can read the guide yourself on the SARS website (tax directive guide, PDF).

Why the Emigration Withdrawal shortcut stopped

Many South Africans who left before 2021 cashed out their retirement annuities soon after "financial emigration". That road is gone, and it closed in two stages.

First, the SARB phased out the emigration concept recognised by its Financial Surveillance Department with effect from 1 March 2021 and withdrew Form MP 336(b). The change of status now runs through SARS. "Financial emigration" lives on as an everyday phrase, not an official process.

Second, SARS stopped accepting tax directive applications with the reason "Emigration Withdrawal" if they were submitted on or after 1 September 2024. The enabling legislation was repealed. If someone tells you they can still lodge one for you, they are working from an old rulebook.

When your three years start counting

The clock runs from the date you ceased to be a tax resident, so that date is the most important number in this whole process. SARS will not pick it for you.

SARS says a change in tax residency must be declared. You capture the date you ceased to be a tax resident on the Registration, Amendments and Verification form (RAV01) on eFiling, or, since 21 February 2022, on your ITR12 income tax return. SARS then sends a letter asking for supporting documents. Our guide to ceasing tax residency with SARS goes through that step in detail.

The standard supporting documents SARS lists are a signed declaration, a letter of motivation, and a copy of your passport or a travel diary showing entry and exit stamps. If you have it, add a certificate of tax residence from the revenue authority in your new country.

How the date is worked out depends on which residence test applied to you. Under the physical presence test, SARS says you cease to be resident once you have been outside South Africa for a continuous period of at least 330 full days, counted from the day you left. If you were resident on another basis, ask a tax practitioner how your date is set.

The same ceasing date does other work too. SARS says a deemed disposal for capital gains tax takes place on your worldwide assets, excluding immovable property in South Africa, when you cease. So the date that starts your retirement fund clock is also a capital gains tax date. Get advice before you capture it.

Setting it up from Perth or Auckland: the order that works

Most of the work happens years before any money moves. A welder who leaves Vanderbijlpark for a sponsored job in Christchurch, or an engineering technician who swaps Bloemfontein for Perth, can do every step below from abroad.

1. List every fund you belong to. Note the fund name, the type (retirement annuity or preservation fund), your member number and the contact details. Old employer funds are easy to forget.
2. Settle your ceasing date with advice. Work out the date with a registered tax practitioner, bearing in mind the capital gains tax effect.
3. Declare it to SARS. Capture the date on RAV01 on eFiling or on your ITR12, then answer the SARS letter with the declaration, motivation letter, passport copy or travel diary and, if available, your foreign certificate of tax residence.
4. Keep a three-year file. Store the SARS correspondence, your passport stamps and your foreign tax records in one place. The word "uninterrupted" is easier to show with paper than from memory.
5. Diarise the three-year mark. Mark the date three years after your ceasing date, and treat it as the earliest point, not a promised payout day.
6. Ask your fund how it handles the directive. Close to the date, contact the fund for its process and ask how the SARS tax directive is requested in your case.
7. Plan the transfer abroad. The SARB says people who cease to be residents need a Tax Compliance Status (TCS) for "emigration" from SARS before Authorised Dealers may transfer their funds, with transfers of up to R10 million per calendar year if the conditions are met. Our guide to moving money out of South Africa when emigrating covers that side.

Budget for three years without that money

The practical effect is simple. Money in a retirement annuity or preservation fund is not part of your moving budget. Your first years abroad have to be funded from savings you can move now and from your new pay.

That makes the job itself the real plan. Sponsored roles such as a civil engineering technician in Perth or a fitter, turner and welder in Christchurch come with the visa route already set out. Our guides to the Skills in Demand (482) visa for South Africans and the AEWV for South Africans explain what each visa asks of you. If your CV still reads like a list of job titles, Build AI CV can help you set out your trade or professional history the way overseas employers read it.

Paperwork costs come in rand before you go: police clearance, SAQA letter and unabridged birth certificate. Our breakdown of emigration document costs for South Africans lists the official fees.

Your new retirement savings abroad run on different rules

While your South African fund waits, a new retirement pot usually starts growing where you work.

In Australia, employers pay superannuation on top of wages. The general super guarantee rate is 12% for the period 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, and Moneysmart says your pay slip shows earnings, tax paid and super contributions. Super built up on a temporary visa (other than subclass 405 or 410) can be claimed as a departing Australia superannuation payment (DASP) only after you leave Australia, once the visa has ceased and you hold no other active Australian visa, and not if you have become an Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident. The ATO taxes the taxed element of a DASP at 35% and the untaxed element at 45%.

In New Zealand, KiwiSaver is for citizens and people entitled to live there indefinitely. On a work visa you cannot join, so it only becomes an option if you later hold residence.

You may end up with two retirement pots in two countries, each with its own release rules. Keep both in the same file.

Common mistakes with retirement annuities after emigrating

• Counting the annuity in the moving budget. It stays locked until three uninterrupted years after you cease to be resident.
• Thinking leaving is the same as ceasing. Leaving does not tell SARS. The ceasing date is declared on RAV01 or the ITR12, with supporting documents.
• Chasing an Emigration Withdrawal. SARS stopped accepting those directive applications from 1 September 2024.
• Losing the paper trail. Without passport stamps, a travel diary and SARS letters, proving three uninterrupted years is harder.
• Fixing a ceasing date without checking capital gains tax. The deemed disposal on your worldwide assets is tied to that same date.
• Paying a "fixer" to speed things up. Nobody can shorten a rule written into law. Deal with SARS through eFiling, with your fund directly, and with a registered tax practitioner if you need help.

Frequently asked questions

Can I withdraw my retirement annuity as soon as I emigrate from South Africa?

No. SARS's tax directive guide, effective 17 April 2026, says a member of a retirement annuity fund or preservation fund can withdraw the full benefit before retirement once they have ceased to be resident for an uninterrupted period of three years or longer. Leaving the country on its own does not unlock it.

Does the three-year rule apply to preservation funds too?

Yes. The SARS guide names both retirement annuity funds and preservation funds. The same condition applies to each: three or more uninterrupted years after you ceased to be resident, under rules in force from 1 March 2021.

Can I still apply for an Emigration Withdrawal?

No. SARS no longer accepts tax directive applications with the reason "Emigration Withdrawal" submitted on or after 1 September 2024, because the legislation that allowed it was repealed. The old SARB emigration process behind it was phased out from 1 March 2021.

When does the three-year clock start?

It runs from the date you ceased to be a South African tax resident. SARS says that date must be declared, on the RAV01 form on eFiling or on your ITR12 return, and it then asks for supporting documents. Keep proof of that date safe, because the count depends on it.

How much tax will I pay on a retirement annuity withdrawal after emigrating?

This guide does not cover amounts, and the SARS rules quoted here do not give a single figure for everyone. The tax is set through a tax directive on your own fund values, so ask your fund and a registered tax practitioner before you plan around a number.

Key takeaways

• A retirement annuity or preservation fund can be withdrawn in full before retirement after three uninterrupted years of non-residence.
• "Emigration Withdrawal" directives are not accepted for applications on or after 1 September 2024.
• Your three years start from your ceasing date, which you declare to SARS on RAV01 or the ITR12.
• Keep passport stamps, SARS letters and foreign tax records together for the whole period.
• Fund your move from your new job and movable savings, not from the annuity.

#retirement annuity #preservation fund #emigration #sars #tax directive #south africans abroad