RA contribution treatment unfair

Why do the procedures to adjust Pay-AsYou-Earn (PAYE) tax to account for contributions to a retirement annuity (RA) differ before and after retirement?

Before retirement, all that is required is for the financial services provider to send a certificate to your employer stating that the RA payment has been made, and PAYE is adjusted. This is financially very beneficial when the RA payment is made in March.

After retirement, my service provider (which, technically, is my employer now) will not adjust my monthly PAYE for an RA payment made in March unless a tax directive is obtained from the South African Revenue Service (SARS). It gives “system constraints” as the reason for not being able to do this.

The service provider for my living annuity and my RA contribution is the same. On submission of the required tax directive, my monthly PAYE is adjusted, and the “system constraints” no longer seem to be an issue. Obtaining a tax directive is an expensive process when it is done through a firm of chartered accountants – an expense that the pre-retirement contributor does not have to incur.

Why are the two classes of contributors treated differently for what is essentially the same process? In my opinion, this discriminatory practice is not in line with Treating Customers Fairly, and “system constraints” do not seem to be a valid reason for refusing to treat people equally, fairly and consistently.

How can the proceeds of life policies owned by a trust be made available for the settlement of estate duty? In my opinion, a bequest would have the effect of increasing the size of the estate. A preferable course of action would be a loan to the executor that