A trust is a vehicle,
not a tax structure.
Most South African trusts are formed and then left to run themselves: unfiled returns, unrecorded minutes, lapsed compliance. That is when protection quietly erodes. We form new trusts and administer existing ones as genuine wealth-protection and succession vehicles: in-house deed drafting, full Master registration, SARS registration, Beneficial Ownership compliance, and ongoing administration under one point of CA accountability.
Practising since 2009. The client and retention figures are our own estimates across that time.
Credentials
- CA(SA) ledChartered Accountant (South Africa)
- SAICA memberSouth African Institute of Chartered Accountants
- Reg. 2009/018813/07Managing Advancing Wealth (Pty) Ltd
Three modes. One accountable team.
Whether you are forming a new trust, rescuing a neglected one, or running an existing trust properly, the engagement scope is clear. You do not need all three: you start where you are.
Trust Formation.
The build phase. From structuring advice through to a properly registered, compliant trust with a bank account, SARS registration, and an opening chart of accounts ready to administer.
- Structuring advisory: inter vivos vs testamentary, trustee and beneficiary selection, founder and marital-regime considerations
- Trust deed drafting in-house (complex or contested deeds referred to partner attorneys)
- Registration with the Master of the High Court: Letters of Authority issued to trustees
- SARS registration of the trust as a separate taxpayer
- Beneficial Ownership registration with the Master
- Bank account setup guidance and opening chart of accounts
- Initial asset transfer planning, including s7C loan-account structuring
Trust Compliance Audit.
For trusts that were formed and then neglected. A structured diagnostic before ongoing administration can begin, so you know exactly what is outstanding and what it will take to bring the trust back into shape.
- Letters of Authority status check
- Deed review: does it still reflect what you intended?
- Missing ITR12T returns identified
- Beneficial Ownership registration status
- Trustee minutes and resolution gaps
- Annual financial statement gaps
- Remediation plan with timeline and cost estimate
- Pathway to compliance before ongoing administration begins
Trust Administration.
The run phase. A recurring annual engagement (billed monthly) covering every compliance, tax, and governance obligation the trust carries. This is the mode that keeps asset protection substantively intact year after year.
- Annual trustee meeting minutes, resolutions, and beneficiary vesting records
- Trustee register and Beneficial Ownership maintenance
- Loan-account administration between trust and founder or beneficiaries
- Master of the High Court compliance (trustee changes, deed amendments)
- ITR12T annual trust tax return and IRP6 provisional tax
- Conduit-principle distribution planning to manage the 45% flat trust rate
- Section 7C interest calculations on loans to the trust
- Section 4A abatement coordination for spousal estate planning
- Capital Gains Tax planning on asset disposals
- Annual financial statements with beneficiary distribution schedules
- Audit-ready workpapers for Master or SARS queries
The neglected trust is the most common trust in South Africa.
An attorney drafted the deed years ago and disengaged. No finance partner runs the trust’s ongoing life. The consequences accumulate quietly.
SARS attacks substance.
Unfiled ITR12T returns and unrecorded minutes give SARS grounds to attack the trust on substance under s7 attribution rules, pulling income back to the founder personally at their individual marginal rate.
Trustees become personally liable.
Trustees who fail to keep proper records, file returns, and maintain Beneficial Ownership registrations expose themselves to personal liability. The Trust Property Control Act does not forgive administrative neglect.
Section 7C interest overlooked.
Loan accounts between founders and their trusts carry mandatory interest under s7C. Overlooking it creates a deemed donation, which attracts donations tax year after year, often compounding for years before it surfaces.
Asset protection quietly erodes.
A trust that is not substantively run as a separate entity (no minutes, no resolutions, no proper accounts) is a paper trust. Its asset protection is challenged exactly when it is needed most: divorce, insolvency, estate dispute.
One CA-led point of accountability.
You do not juggle an attorney, an accountant, and a tax practitioner. We coordinate the attorney for legal work and run everything else in-house.
Tax outcomes actively managed.
Conduit-principle distributions to mitigate the 45% flat trust rate. Section 4A abatement portability for spousal estate planning. Section 7C interest calculated and compliant. Capital Gains Tax planned on disposals before they happen. These are planned outcomes, not retrospective fixes.
Trustees protected by proper records.
Annual minutes, resolutions, vesting records, a trustee register, and Beneficial Ownership filings maintained within prescribed periods. Audit-ready workpapers kept current throughout the year so a Master or SARS query does not become a crisis.
Lawful continuity, not tax avoidance.
The goal is a trust that is substantively respected: one whose asset protection holds up because it is genuinely run as a separate entity. Governance, not avoidance. The trust works the way it was meant to work across generations.
Four ways clients arrive.
Different starting points, same destination: a trust that is properly formed, substantively run, and doing the job it was created to do.
Forming a new trust.
Individuals and business owners structuring their estates: asset protection, succession, or a multi-generational plan that needs the right vehicle, formed correctly from day one.
Rescuing a neglected trust.
An existing trust with unfiled ITR12T returns, unrecorded minutes, or lapsed Beneficial Ownership filings. The Trust Compliance Audit establishes what is outstanding and the pathway back.
ATBC clients with a trust.
Already on the monthly Accounting, Tax & Business Compliance relationship. Trust Administration attaches to the same engagement: one team, coordinated reporting.
Sent here by the Wealth Audit.
The Business and Personal Wealth Audit (dimension 08) identified that a trust should be formed or properly administered. This service is where that recommendation is implemented.
Trust Administration comes through three doors.
Trust Administration is a modular recurring add-on. It has one canonical definition and three entry points. Clients reach the same ongoing engagement whether they come through the flagship audit, an existing accounting relationship, or a standalone trust engagement.
The fees and scope are confirmed in writing at engagement. No published rate card.
Via the Business and Personal Wealth Audit.
When the Business and Personal Wealth Audit (dimension 08: Business Structure & Tax Optimisation) identifies that a new trust should be formed, or an existing one properly administered, Trust Administration attaches as an implementation add-on to the flagship engagement.
Bolted onto Accounting, Tax & Business Compliance.
For clients on the Accounting, Tax & Business Compliance (ATBC) monthly relationship who have a trust, Trust Administration attaches to the same monthly engagement: same team, coordinated reporting, one relationship.
Inside this standalone service.
Clients who come specifically for trust work (forming a new trust, rescuing a neglected one, or moving to a new CA for administration) engage Trust Formation & Administration as a standalone service. No existing MAW relationship required.
What is referred out, and what is not this service at all.
Being clear about scope is part of the advisory work. Where something falls outside our mandate, we say so and coordinate the right referral, not because we are stepping back, but because the client deserves the right practitioner for each part of their matter.
The two most common confusions are addressed below: restructuring is categorically different from formation and administration; and Fiduciary Trust Accounting is an entirely different service for an entirely different client type.
Complex or contested trust deeds.
Standard inter vivos trust deeds are drafted in-house. Where the deed is contested, involves a dispute, or requires specialist legal drafting, it is referred to partner attorneys. The same applies to disputed estates and complex foreign-asset planning.
Investment selection for trust assets is FAIS territory.
MAW reviews the trust’s financial structure, coordinates distributions, and manages the tax position. Recommending financial products for trust assets (investment funds, endowments, life cover) falls under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. Product recommendations sit with the client’s authorised FSP. MAW is not an authorised financial services provider.
Re-shaping or unwinding a trust is not this service.
Corrective work on existing trust structures (re-shaping, consolidating, or unwinding redundant or non-compliant trusts, and migrating assets between structures) is delivered under Business & Trust Restructuring. That is specialist restructuring work under the Income Tax Act and Trust Property Control Act. Trust Formation & Administration is the build-and-run service.
This service and Fiduciary Trust Accounting must not be conflated.
They share the word “trust” but serve entirely different client types under entirely different regulatory frameworks. The distinction matters and we hold it clearly.
Trust Formation & Administration.
For clients setting up or running their own inter vivos or testamentary trusts as wealth-protection and succession vehicles. Governed by the Trust Property Control Act, 1988. The trust belongs to the client. The compliance obligation runs to SARS and the Master of the High Court.
Fiduciary Trust Accounting.
For attorneys, estate agents, and sheriffs who hold client funds in a regulated trust account under the Legal Practice Act and PPRA. The trust account belongs to the practice. The compliance obligation runs to the LPC or PPRA, with mandatory annual audit. Categorically different work, different client, different regulator.
The questions we hear most often.
Do I actually need a trust?
What is not included?
My trust has not been properly maintained for years. Where do we start?
How is this priced?
Do you recommend financial products for trust assets?
What if I also need the trust deed re-drafted or the trust restructured?
Start with a conversation about your trust.
Discovery call: no fee, no commitment. We find out what you have, what it needs, and whether we are the right fit.
What happens on the call: 30 minutes, online. We get to know your business and check that we are the right fit for each other, answer the questions you bring, share best practice for your setup, and quote for any work that falls within our services.
CA(SA) led practice +27 10 592 7717 info@mawinc.co.za 101 Rose Avenue, Lenasia, Johannesburg