SA (and Sars) on board with global crypto reporting initiative …

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JIMMY MOYAHA: It’s crypto season, or at least it has historically been a good time for crypto markets to rally in the [year-end] period. But this time around we have some new information to take into account if you are looking at the crypto space; and of course it relates to taxation.

We have a Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework that was proposed by the South African Revenue Service earlier in 2025, and the public commentary deadline for that expired in early October. We’re going to look at this framework and what it means for the crypto world in more detail.

I’m joined on the line by the partner and head of fintech and digital assets at Forvis Mazars SA, Wiehann Olivier, to look at this and see what to make of it. Wiehann, lovely to have you on the show. Thanks so much for taking the time.

Let’s start with the backstory around the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Where did it come from? How did it come about? What spurred this on?

WIEHANN OLIVIER: The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework is a global initiative developed by the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, together with the G20 countries. The main goal is simple. It’s to give authorities visibility over crypto transactions.

Listen/read: Obligatory crypto reporting and SA tax compliance

You might ask why this is necessary. Well, crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum can move around and be stored without banks or central intermediaries or administrators, which makes it very hard for tax authorities to track these activities.

That lack of visibility creates a real risk of tax evasion, and that’s where the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework is designed to close that gap. 

Now why is this important? Crypto has grown immensely. If you look at the adoption globally it’s immense over the last couple of years. And without this proper reporting, governments lose out on that tax revenue [through what] we refer to as tax leakages. 

The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework introduces automatic annual reporting of crypto transactions to these authorities like the South African Revenue Service, Sars, both locally and internationally, so everyone plays under the same rules effectively.

And in South Africa, I think more importantly, we’ve also signed up to adhere to the regulations set out by the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and follow the timelines prescribed by the OECD. 

Read: Sars tightens its grip on crypto traders

So, starting September 2026, crypto-asset service providers in South Africa – which include cryptocurrency exchanges, OTC desks; those types of virtual asset service providers – will need to report data to Sarb [South African Reserve Bank].

From 20th September 2027, a year subsequent to that, South Africa will also be sharing information with other tax-collection agencies abroad as well.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Now Wiehann, you touched on the ‘Casps’ as we know them, the crypto-asset service providers. Initially they were just service providers, and we saw a regulation change from their perspective as well. We saw that from an FSCA [Financial Sector Conduct Authority] perspective a Casp licence was introduced. It was supported by the South African Reserve Bank and it meant that there became a structured framework for these service providers to operate under, including the fact that crypto assets were then designated a financial asset by South African laws and regulations.

Listen/read: Court ruling exposes crypto exchange-control loophole

Take us through that transition, and how that alignment now sits with an alignment that we see globally with organisations like the OECD.

WIEHANN OLIVIER: I think it’s quite interesting in terms of what we look at from a regulatory environment.

Globally, we’ve seen regulations diverge in one of three ways:

1. Instances where they imposed blanket bans; or
2. Where they tried to regulate the asset class from the get-go – those didn’t work out that well;
3. And then of course [others] took the wait-and-see approach, and that effectively is where South Africa fell in.

Now what they effectively did is they wanted to see how the asset class and its intermediaries, meaning those virtual asset service providers, integrate into the traditional financial services world before trying to regulate it and effectively design regulations around the asset class to fit into the traditional financial services sector. 

Why do we need regulations?

A lot of people would also argue, asking why we need regulations for something like a virtual asset service provider, or to try and govern crypto-assets or blockchain-based digital assets as a whole.

The main reason for that is stakeholder protection.

I think that’s something that people need to familiarise themselves with. That is the idea behind regulations. It is to try and circumvent circumstances where there is a massive loss of funds or misappropriation of funds or those types of scenarios, just general stakeholder protection in general.

Listen/read: Two crypto court cases expose gaps in SA exchange controls

But of course, as we bring in these new regulations we move into a more regulated environment. 

So effectively what happens is crypto-asset service providers and blockchain-based digital assets move into this regulated environment, where we want to see the asset class and these service providers operating to effectively adhere to these stakeholder protections. 

And of course, Sars and revenue-collection agencies are also following that same route as well.

So as we see regulations in terms of stakeholder protection, there are regulations coming in to make sure that revenue-collection agencies also get their cut of the pie.

Because, if you look at South Africa in general, I can’t remember the stats but I think there’s about six million cryptocurrency, let’s call them trader’s for a better word, or investors in the asset class.

But if you look at the amount of taxpayers declaring their gains or losses in relation to crypto tax, it’s actually not even close to that figure. 

That’s not purely from a South African standpoint. We see that on a global basis as well. That’s why we need regulations like this Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework across the world, not only in South Africa.

JIMMY MOYAHA: If you’re just tuning in, we are in conversation with Wiehann Olivier of Forvis Mazars, taking a look at the latest in crypto regulations and crypto-taxation policies that will be coming into effect in South Africa from 2026. 

Read: New worldwide reporting standards spell the end for crypto-tax evaders

Wiehann, you touched on the fact that from a taxpayer perspective, in the past there’s been a lot of missing conversations and missing declarations. Now we have a Voluntary Disclosure Programme from Sars’s perspective. Take us through the implications of that and what it means for taxpayers who historically may have said: ‘You know what? It’s not my responsibility to have this conversation with the Receiver of Revenue.’

WIEHANN OLIVIER: It’s interesting if you think about it, because blockchain-based digital assets were designed to operate outside the constraints of the traditional financial services world and without the need for an intermediary.

A lot of people think because it was designed to operate outside of the traditional financial services world, tax also doesn’t apply to them.

But interestingly, if we take a step back to the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, it now requires these platforms to effectively gather information on taxpayers.

So taxpayers would need to provide certain information to these virtual asset-service providers, the self-certification of tax residencies where you are tax-resident.

Provide details such as your name, your address, your tax identification number and date of birth and a legal entity who is the ultimate beneficial owner. 

It also tracks crypto-to-crypto transactions, crypto-to-fiat transactions, and when you’re sending and receiving cryptocurrency to unhosted or self-custody wallets as well. It tracks a helluva lot of information from their perspective.

I think those people who haven’t been declaring their taxes up to this point, where they have had gains in terms of cryptocurrency, are under real threat here.

Because if Sars gets a whiff of the fact that you might have undeclared your taxes or omitted including certain amounts in relation to cryptocurrencies – any income or asset class for that matter – in your tax return, they can go back as far as they deem fit. 

A lot of people believe it’s only the five-year rule, [but] as soon as Sars has an indication that there’s been tax evasion, they can go back as far as they want.

Let me frame it like this. The question is, how do taxpayers then regularise their affairs? That is exactly where the [Sars] Voluntary Disclosure Programme [VDP] comes in.

Effectively the VDP or Voluntary Disclosure Programme is a process where you engage with Sars and enter into a legal binding contract with Sars and say: ‘Cards on the table, I know I have omitted declaring this income or that income – or whatever the case may be.’ We also see that happening a lot from a cryptocurrency perspective. 

The real thing to understand here is as soon as Sars starts an investigation into your tax affairs, because they’ve got an idea that there’s an element of tax evasion applicable, you automatically lose the opportunity to enter into that VDP.

That’s why it’s important for taxpayers to understand this. The VDP is there for them to utilise before the investigation starts. If they enter into a VDP process now with Sars, enter into that legal binding agreement, effectively Sars would waive any penalties for under-declaration of income.

Listen/read:
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Of course, the interest would still apply, but at least you waive those penalties that can reach up to a maximum of 200% of your taxable income. That’s where we’ve seen a lot of people regularising their tax affairs where they had omitted declaring gains from the past in relation to cryptocurrencies.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Wiehann, let’s look at the offshore markets. We live in a digital age where people are able to engage with crypto-asset service providers that might not be based in South Africa; that creates a bit of a compliance headache for the South African regulators but also for these service providers. Given that we are now dealing with a framework that is a global framework, how do we anticipate that this will affect these offshore service providers? 

If, for example, I happen to be trading with an offshore exchange, does that then impact my affairs and my conversations any differently from dealing with a local exchange?

WIEHANN OLIVIER: That’s a very valid question because Sars has authority over local crypto-asset service providers.

So Sars can request information from local crypto-asset service providers on a whim. And of course, it’s very manual. It’s not automatic. Not everything is in the digital format, but they can request it. And then these crypto-asset service providers need to adhere to the request from Sars.

Listen: New Sars unit targets crypto non-compliance

But if they can look at your transactions, they can see that you sent, let’s say, Bitcoin to Kraken, for example, then they have an idea that you have an offshore cryptocurrency platform as well, or let’s say a portfolio abroad, but they can’t subpoena or request that information from that foreign cryptocurrency exchange as it currently stands. 

That’s where the issue currently lies, because it’s almost a black hole.

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So now revenue-collection agencies such as Sars are dependent on the information being provided by the taxpayer, and it raises the question of whether the information being provided by the taxpayer is in fact valid, accurate and complete.

But, having said that, it’s also important for taxpayers to understand that there are analytical tools available there to utilise on blockchain technology. And blockchain is a beautiful thing in the sense that every transaction recorded on the blockchain is transparent. Anyone can view the transaction and it’s immutable. 

So these are analytical tools that you can utilise to identify possible scenarios where individuals are not declaring their taxes and individuals are not declaring their holdings of blockchain-based digital assets in various other jurisdictions as well.

So those loopholes will slowly but surely start to close with multiple regulations coming in.

Such as the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, but also collection agencies such as Sars having these tools in their tool set to identify these omissions as well. 

Read: Loophole blocked: Sarb appeals ruling on crypto not being subject to exchange controls

This is an area from which we see a lot of leakage, not only from a tax point of view, but also from an exchange-control point of view, which still remains, I can say, the elephant in the room. Not a lot of people are talking about exchange-control regulations, specifically of the most recent court case between Standard Bank and the South African Reserve Bank in relation to digital assets as well.

JIMMY MOTAHA: Wiehann, let’s wrap up the conversation by looking at whether the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework covers solely cryptocurrencies, or does it cover other types of digital assets?

We went through a phase where people were involved in NFTs, non-fungible tokens. People are still involved in things like meme coins, stablecoins. We know that we have a general definition for digital assets in South Africa that we discussed earlier in this conversation. But when we look at this Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, what does it capture there from a taxation perspective?

WIEHANN OLIVIER: Interestingly enough, it covers basically any blockchain-based digital asset that’s being transacted by a crypto-asset service provider.

That means it includes your unbacked cryptocurrencies like your Bitcoin, Ethereum.

It includes your meme coins. It could potentially include things like non-fungible tokens, although those aren’t being traded as actively as we saw two or three years ago.

It also includes your stablecoins, as I mentioned, and then any tokenised real-world asset because of course on local exchanges as well you can purchase tokenised shares of foreign listed companies.

Listen/read: Will stablecoins one day rule the world?

It includes basically every single type of asset that can be housed on a blockchain; of course it includes those crypto-to-crypto transactions and of course where you have engagement with fiat currency being South African rand or whatever the case may be. 

So there is a lot of information that is being disclosed to revenue-collection agencies with the new Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework.

JIMMY MOYAHA: Crypto assets and digital assets are no longer a mythical thing. They are something that will clearly be around for a long time to come and they are being officially recognised across various spaces, including the taxation thereof. This is why it’s important to have conversations with your relevant tax authorities and your financial advisors. 

This wasn’t financial advice as a conversation, but the more you know around the taxation of crypto the better if you are trading or investing in it. 

We’ll leave the conversation on that note. Thanks so much to the head of fintech and digital assets at Forvis Mazars, Wiehann Olivier, for joining us to take a look at the new Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and its implications.

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