IT'S RAFFLE TIME AGAIN!


 We are super excited to announce our annual raffle with fantastic prizes up for grabs. 

Stand a chance of winning one of these prizes:

1. Pet Friendly two night stay for two at the beautiful Cederkloof Botanical Retreat.

2. Dog & Cat Deluxe Prize –  Heritage cat scratch post, Ultra Dog Dog Bed, Ricky Pet Products Dog & Cat Hamper.

3. Pet & Family Photoshoot by the very talented Jackie Wernberg Photography & ARO Dog Hamper.

Tickets are R50 each.

ENTRIES CLOSE: Monday, 6 September

DRAW DATE: Friday, 10 September. 

Visit our website www.animalrescue.org.za to buy your tickets.



NEVER ALLOW SOMEONE ONTO YOUR PROPERTY WITHOUT ASKING QUESTIONS FIRST

Opportunistic criminals are always looking for easy targets. Being aware of basic personal safety measures can go a long way towards protecting you, especially when it comes to impersonators and imposters. 

“More of us are spending longer periods of time at home now than before. It is very important that we don’t allow anyone in the front door or onto the property unless they have a bona fide reason to be there and their credentials have been properly verified,” says Charnel Hattingh, Head of Marketing and Communications at Fidelity ADT. 

Most suburbs have seen their own version of imposters who attempt to gain access to residential properties under false pretences. This often involves some kind of service provider, such as home delivery drivers, TV or phone technicians, municipal workers that are reading water meters, census workers working on the latest Statistics SA population count, or even fake police or armed response officers.   

“Unless you have checked that the person at your front door is really who they say they are, you should never let them in the door. Also make sure that anyone else in your residence knows this rule,” says Hattingh.

“Our technical teams always work on an appointment basis, which means they will never show up at your door unannounced. All our technicians and armed response officers carry clearly visible ID cards. Contact the Fidelity ADT call centre on 086 12 12 300 if you want to verify any of our team members’ identity.”

Hattingh also recommends keeping the contact details for the closest police station and the neighbourhood watch on standby, so that you can call them if there is any worry about someone trying to get access to your property.

Fidelity-ADT


www.harfield-village.co.za

TURN YOUR BOND INTO AN EFFECTIVE SAVINGS TOOL


Buying a home using a bond facility is not only a long-term investment, it can also be an effective way of saving money. “With July being National Savings Month, and interest rates at their lowest in 55 years, it’s a good idea to focus on the ways to make your home loan work for you,” says Carl Coetzee, CEO of BetterBond.

Lower interest, bigger savings

“Homeowners are paying considerably less on their bonds than they were doing 17 months ago when the prime lending rate was 10%.” BetterBond’s applications for June show that the average purchase price of a home is just over R1.3 million. The prime lending rate has been at 7% since July 2020, which means that homeowners will have saved R2 500 a month since then on a R1.3 million bond, adding up to a cumulative saving of R27 500 over the eleven months from Aug 2020 to June this year.

“Our applications put the average homebuyer income for June at close to R43 000. This means that homebuyers in the R1.250 to R1.3 million price bracket have saved more than half a month’s salary in the past year,” says Coetzee. “This is a welcome financial reserve to have during a pandemic.”

The table below shows how much has been saved on monthly bond repayments, across all price bands, with the prime lending rate dropping from 10% to the current 7%.


Reduce interest

Another way of saving money through your bond is by paying a bit extra each month. “Every rand paid into your bond reduces the outstanding balance, meaning you pay less interest over time,” says Coetzee. 

The South African Reserve Bank forecasts that interest rates will remain in single digits for several months yet. “If you have the financial means, instead of paying less because of the lower interest rate, try to keep paying what you were before interest rates dropped to 7%. This will significantly reduce the amount of interest owing, and shorten the length of your bond repayment.” Coetzee adds that even an amount of R250 extra a month can make a difference.

As the following example shows, paying just R1 000 extra a month on a R1.3 million bond, at the current prime lending rate of 7%, could reduce the duration of a loan by almost four years.


Access to capital

“Paying off your home loan early saves time and money by bringing down your bond term and reducing what you pay in interest, but it also gives you access to capital that can be put to great use. It could provide the deposit on another property, or finance renovations on your existing home,” says Coetzee.

There are no penalties for paying off your home loan sooner than the term for which you signed up, typically 20 years, says Coetzee. “You should just let the bank know and – importantly – instruct them not to close your bond account. There may be a small admin fee involved, which differs between banks, but it’s often worth keeping your home loan account open for the purpose of accessing funds again in future.” You could access funds on the existing bond or property to help you pay a deposit on a new home or even finance the purchase of a new property.

Anne-Marie Bamber is Norgarb Properties dedicated Home Loans Consultant. She has over 15 years’ experience in assisting clients with their Home Loan needs and has placed many happy families in their dream homes.

Contact her today for no cost stress-free home-buying.
Anne-Marie Bamber
Home Loans consultant
Tel: +27 (0)21 851 3568 | Fax: +27 (0)21 441 1494 | Cell: +27 (0)82 071 1665
E-mail: anne-marie.bamber@betterlife.co.za









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AUGUST IN THE GARDEN

We've had rain! The experience of droubt a few years ago feels like a distant memory now. It reminds us that things change over time, no matter how difficult or stuck they may feel in the moment. Isn't it wonderful to experience such natural abundance of our most precious natural resource, and to be able to appreciate it more deeply in contrast to its opposite?

For those keen on planting at the moment, the plant list expands as things slowly start warming up.

Here's the plant list:

Basil, Broad Beans, Beetroot, Butternut, Cape Gooseberry, Cauliflower, Carrots, Chard/Spinach, Celery, Chives, Chilli Pepper, Cucumber, Eggplant, Kale, Kohlrabi, Globe Artichokes, Leek, Leaf Mustard, Lettuce, Onion, Parsley, Parsnip, Peas, Potato, Pumpkin, Radish, Rhubarb, Sweetcorn, Sweet Pepper, Turnip, Tomato, Watercress, Watermelon

Enjoy the longer, lighter and warmer days! Happy growing. 

Patchwork Group
Gabriella Garnett
076 2199 849 | gabriella.garnett@gmail.com


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IS TAX AVOIDANCE LEGAL?

There is a general misconception between the terms “tax avoidance” on the one hand and “tax evasion” on the other. These terms can be confusingly similar but there is an important distinction between these tax terms that can have the result of the taxpayer being either on right side of the law, or the wrong side of the law.

Tax Evasion refers to illegal activities deliberately undertaken by the taxpayer to free him- or herself from a tax liability. This would typically refer to a situation where a taxpayer does not pay the tax that would normally have been chargeable if the taxpayer made a full and true disclosure of income and the allowable deductions. These activities commonly refers to fraud, falsification of returns, books and accounts, sham transactions, deliberate non-disclosure of income or the deliberate overstatement of deductible expenditure.

Tax Avoidance on the other hand refers to a situation where the taxpayer arranges his or her affairs in a completely legal and lawful way that results in a reduced income or has no income on which tax is payable. Tax avoidance is completely legal and is seen as a way in which a taxpayer can protect his or her property from unnecessary taxes. An example would be where a taxpayer donates an interest-bearing investment to his major child in the amount of R 100,000.00 and would not be affected by the provisions of donations tax.

As famously quoted in the case of Duke of Westminister v IRC 1953: “Every man is entitled, if he can, to order his affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If he succeeds in ordering them so as to secure this result, then, however unappreciative the Commissioner of Inland Revenue or it’s fellow taxpayers may be of his inequity, he cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax.”

In conclusion, a taxpayer may arrange his or her affairs in a perfectly legitimate way to avoid paying unnecessary taxes. However, deliberately evading tax payments remains illegal.

Contact STBB for any assistance or information.

STBB Claremont



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