Understanding Trusts Through a Tax Lens
Trusts are an important vehicle in estate and wealth planning but come with unique legal and tax considerations. As part of our Understanding Trusts Through a Tax Lens webinar line-up, sessions will unpack the critical tax issues affecting trusts, offering practical guidance on compliance and insights based on legislation, recent case law, and SARS focus areas.
Each session is designed to focus on a specific area of trust taxation, from foundational principles to practical SARS reporting obligations.
The Legislative Framework Impacting Trusts from a Tax Perspective
Webinar Objective: Equip participants with a solid legal framework to understand how trust ownership and governance influence tax outcomes.
Date:
09 July 2026
Time:
10:00 – 11:00
Platform:
Zoom
Cost:
R220
CPD Points:
1.0
Cost:
R220
CPD Points:
1.0
Key Topics
- Overview of the trust legislative and compliance framework
- Identifying beneficial owners of trusts for SARS declaration and compliance purposes
- Importance and preparation of trust resolutions for tax compliance
- Review of recent case law
Who Should Join?
Tax Practitioners
& Advisors
Legal advisors
Trust administrators
Financial advisors
Accountants
Meet The Speakers
Darren Britz
Partner and Head of Tax Legal
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Darren Britz is a Partner and the Head of Tax Legal at Tax Consulting SA. He is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa, specializing in South African tax with a focus on cross-border tax advisory and implementation for multi-national companies and high-net worth individuals.
Michael Andrew Graskie
CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT
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Michael Andrew Graskie is a highly experienced Chartered Accountant with 34 years of professional expertise across insurance, auditing, public sector oversight, and taxation. He obtained his BCom and BCom Honours degrees from the University of Johannesburg, formerly Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), and went on to build a distinguished career grounded in technical excellence, governance, and tax administration. After beginning his career in the insurance industry, Michael discovered his passion for auditing and progressed to become a partner in audit practice. In 2009, following a period at the Auditor-General, he joined the South African Revenue Service (SARS), where he fulfilled a range of specialist and leadership roles. He later became part of the SARS Trust Product Team, where he concluded his SARS career and made a significant contribution to the administration and development of trust-related tax matters. In 2019, Michael completed an MCom Tax through the University of Pretoria, with research focused on the complexity of trust tax legislation in selected SADC countries. With his rare combination of academic insight, practical tax experience, and deep exposure to trust administration, Michael brings valuable perspective to professional training and discussion on trusts, taxation, compliance, and modernisation.
As part of his duties at SARS, Michael was responsible for training staff members on a wide range of trust-related matters. He was also involved in designing and supporting trust modernisation initiatives, including the development and rollout of improvements through the annual Trust Tax Return and other implementation channels. This experience positions him as a knowledgeable and practical voice on the evolving trust tax environment and the operational realities faced by both tax practitioners and administrators.
Trust Taxation, Attribution Principles, Distributions
Webinar Objective: Equip participants with a clear and practical understanding of trust income attribution and loan-related tax rules, enabling effective management of distributions including cross-border scenarios.
Date:
16 July 2026
Time:
10:00 – 11:00
Platform:
Zoom
Cost:
R220
CPD Points:
1.0
Cost:
R220
CPD Points:
1.0
Key Topics
- Overview of the taxation principles affecting trusts including the application of Section 25B, Paragraph 80 of the Eighth Schedule and the attribution rules.
- Understanding Section 31 and Section 7C as they apply to loans or advances to trusts with below-market interest rates, including recent amendments requiring potential concurrent application of both sections.
- Tax treatment of distributions to beneficiaries, including timing and attribution.
- Special considerations for non-resident beneficiaries and related tax implications.
- Practical examples and case studies illustrating these concepts in action.
Who Should Join?
Tax Practitioners
& Advisors
Legal advisors
Trust administrators
Financial advisors
Accountants
Meet The Speakers
Catherine Fourie
Chartered Accountant (SA)
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Catherine Fourie is the Head of CPD Consortium. She is a CA(SA) and Chartered Tax Advisor and completed her MCom (Taxation) in 2016. Previously an audit manager at Deloitte, she was a lecturer in the BCom Accounting program at Nelson Mandela University (NMU) for 15 years until 2024 and has served on various non-profit Boards.
Anelmari Truter
Tax Attorney
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Anelmari Truter is an Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa and part of the tax legal team at Tax Consulting SA. Anelmari is well-versed in cross-border tax, trust tax and related technical areas.