'One of the greatest disservices you can do a man is to lend him money that he can’t pay back.' (Jesse H. Jones, entrepreneur) A recent High Court decision provides yet another cautionary tale for lenders. The stakes are high: get this wrong, and you could lose everything. Two big risks for lenders Before you lend, be aware of two major risks that you need to manage. Both are imposed by the National Credit Act (NCA): Not registering as a credit provider: If you lend money wit

'Knowledge is power.' (Sir Francis Bacon) Being a company director carries not only rewards but also risks that you need to manage carefully. In particular, you are held by the Companies Act to a high standard of conduct. Breaching any of your many duties and responsibilities can have significant negative consequences. Among these is being declared a 'delinquent director'. That’s no small thing… It’s a serious long term career risk Serious categories of misconduct expose dire

'We are also proposing additional tax measures to ease the financial burden on households and businesses, by adjusting personal income tax brackets and rebates fully in line with inflation.' (Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana) How much will I save if I sell my house? A big highlight for property sellers and buyers is that, having remained unchanged since 2012, the primary residence exclusion for Capital Gains Tax has been increased from R2 million to R3 million. In additio

'You know you’re winning when you’re being copied.' (Robin Sharma, author of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari) Whether your business is brand new or well established, you need to protect your trading, product and service names from being unlawfully copied. Often your names (and associated logos and other branding) are essential elements in your business’ goodwill and profitability. It can be disastrous if competitors adopt similar branding in order to confuse customers and diver

'If you're flogging a dead horse, make sure you're not riding it.' (Josh Stern) Creditors and company directors alike need to know how best to deal with a company in financial distress. Both should learn to recognise the difference between an enterprise that has failed beyond resuscitation and one that, given a chance, can be returned to solvency and success. With that in mind, the law provides you with two main options: Liquidation: Liquidation is the winding up of a company

'Diplomats operate through deadlock, which is the way by which two sides can test each other's determination.' (Henry Kissinger) Running a business with a partner can work brilliantly - until it doesn’t. When co-directors or shareholders fall out and can no longer see eye to eye, the company can grind to a halt, meaning everyone loses. If the 'deadlock' is just the two sides playing diplomat by testing each other’s determination to fight to the finish, there’s a chance they’l

'My New Year’s resolution is to stop procrastinating. I’ll start tomorrow.' (Anonymous) Most New Year’s resolutions are vague, unwritten, and destined to be forgotten in the first week of January’s hustle and bustle. But please don’t neglect this Top Ten list of legal issues that we’ve put together for you. Focus on those that are important to you, taking a few minutes to write down exactly what action you’ll take under each heading. Then set and diarise realistic deadlines t

'I have heard that in war, haste can be folly, but have never seen delay that was wise.' (Sun Tzu, The Art of War) Collecting debt from a recalcitrant debtor can feel very much like going to war, particularly if you have to slog through the trenches of a series of increasingly costly court battles. Which is where Sun Tzu’s warning against delay comes into play because not starting collection in time could defeat your claim entirely. The reason of course is that debts - with o

'There's no trust, no faith, no honesty in men.' (William Shakespeare, in Romeo and Juliet) A recent Labour Court decision is a stark reminder to employees that an employment relationship is founded on trust and that any breach of that trust could justify dismissal. Pocketing a 50c coin to balance her till The responsibilities of a bank teller included 'balancing cash daily, reporting differences, as well as maintaining effective security controls, including maintaining a hig

'If you suspect deceit, hit delete!' (Online cybersecurity slogan) October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a good time to note that as cybercrime continues to grow, more and more businesses and individuals are falling victim to the dreaded 'BEC' or 'Business Email Compromise' fraud. The million-dollar question: Who takes the hit? Typically in a BEC fraud, email or other electronic communications between a creditor and debtor (often a seller and buyer, or service provider an

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'Good in parts' (Like the curate’s egg) Transfer duty threshold increased by 10% You pay no transfer duty if the property you are buying...

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'The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.' (Shakespeare) Shakespeare must have had an unhappy experience or two with the...

'MTl's business clearly amounted to an unlawful ponzi-scheme i.e. a fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return to investors...

How much will you be paying in income tax, petrol and sin taxes? Use Fin 24’s four-step Budget Calculator here to find out. The unchanged...