Tax Update - Deduction of Medical Expenses

Presently, in terms of section 18 of the Income Tax Act, a taxpayer may deduct medical expenses for immediate family members from taxable income, provided these expenses exceed 7.5% of the member's taxable income. SARS has found it difficult to verify these expenses as medical schemes issue certificates in respect of all medical scheme beneficiaries, an not only for immediate family members who are the potentional subjects of deductions.

In order to stremline the SARS registration and sudot processes, the reference to immediate family for medical scheme mebers has been extended to include all medical scheme beneficiaries. This should hopefully simplify the administration for both medical scheme members and their beneficiaries.

Toti Office Opening

Sat 17 November was our big bash opening of the new Amanzimtoti offices of Mc Naught and Company. The who's who of Amanzimtoti were there including in this photo friends from Fame Real Estate, ASI Property developers and BondExcel. More pics can be seen on the link - just click here.

Transfer Duty Amendments...

There is a positive amendment on the way with regards to transfer duty on sectional title units which form part of a rental pool.

If the purchaser of a sectional title unit which forms part of a rental pool, makes an election, in writing, to keep that unit as part of the rental pool after the transfer to the purchaser then the transfer is exempt from transfer duty.

If we have a look at the benefits that this holds for a prospective purchaser, the change is definately for the better as the transfer duty currently on a R1 million sectional title unit, if purchased by a natural person is R25 000.00. Quite a saving off your transfer costs if the requisite written election is made to keep the unit in the rental pool.

New sign for Mc Naught and Co

Check out the new illuminated sign at our Toti offices which will officially open this week. Blue is the colour of the day - night - and puts us firmly on the map in Amanzimtoti.

New Amanzimtoti Offices

We are very proud of our new Amanzimtoti offices and if you have not yet had an invitation to our official opening on Sat 17 November, please give Daphne a ring on 031-9037307 to secure your invitation. Seen in the photos are Dave Mc Naught in the reception, a close up of the mosaic mural crafted by artist Sue Knight which hangs in the reception and a view of the new buildings from Kingsway, Amanzimtoti.

Civil Unions and Marital Property

Mc Naught & Company are once again striving to stay at the forefront of legal services, and we are proud to announce that we are up to speed on the Civil Unions Act 17 of 2006.

As such, should you be wishing to register a pre-nuptial agreement before entering into a proposed civil union, just contact us for all the advice you need as well as an efficient registering of a pre-nuptial agreement in terms of the Civil Unions Act.

Once again, Mc Naught & Company are at your service!

Mc Naught and Co Staff do us proud!!

Val Herbert is Mc Naught and Company's longest serving staff member and quite the bowles afficionado.

Here we see Val as the runner up in the Women's Veteran Singles competition played at the Wentworth bowling club last week.

We wish her well in future competitions!

Tracking your Property Matters online!!

Mc Naught and Company are becomming ever more progressive in bringing technology into the conveyancing process.

Shortly, all our clients, estate agents and mortgage originators will be able to track their property transfers and mortgage bond registrations in real time - online!!

Just click on the image at the top of this post to take a run through the demo.

Watch this space for teh go-live date!

National Credit Act well underway!

Mc Naught and Company were there to see it start...

The National Credit Act has been the talk of the town for the past few weeks, due to it's coming into effect on 1 June 2007.

People have been saying that it's bad for the property market, will seriously put a damper on sales and generally make the process of obtaining a mortgage bond an absolute nightmare. Well, this is not quite the case.

Having examined the new legislation in detail, the National Credit Act is there to promote more responsible granting of credit by the banks and other credit providers.

How might this affect mortgage loans, you might ask? Well apart from a possible day or two extra that it might take to grant a loan, there is not going to be much of a change. The bank merely now looks at a potential mortgagor's total income in relation to total expenditure, rather than just the total income. This ensures that the mortgagor has sufficient surplus each month to cover his bond repayment.

Mc Naught & Company, your Specialit Property Attorneys and Convenayncers have lots more info on the NCA and are waiting to answer your questions!

Gearing up! March 2007

Photo Above - Agents enjoyed our recent Seminars on Contract skills.

The 2007 Budget has come and gone and good news for the Real Estate Industry is that there were no increases in Transfer Duty, VAT rates or other costs affecting the property industry. Stamp Duty on leases shorter than 5 years is being abolished and this will help reduce administration and costs of most short-term property leases—more good news for us, as all help is needed to maintain growth and confidence in the market.

Dave Mc Naught and Tanya (Chelin’s) celebrate our firm’s 23rd Birthday and Gail from Realty Marine’s birthday on board the Sea Joy last week.

MARCH IS OUR BIRTHDAY MONTH
The first of March saw our 23rd Birthday come and go without too much fuss and we are now proudly in our 24th year of service to the community. Look out for our big birthday bash as we approach 25!! Thanks again to everyone who has in some way contributed to the 23 years our offices have been open.

Mc Naught and Co will be opening our new offices presently nearing completion in Amanzimtoti shortly. This will be a branch office to complement our existing offices on the Bluff gearing up for the growth of Durban to the south. A small office/shop in Toti has been open since June last year and the new offices will enable us to provide a larger full-time staff complement here and our famous hands-on approach to conveyancing in both centres.
It has taken months of organising and construction but the end-product is now expected to be completed in April and we look forward to inviting you to our opening launch party there soon.

Mc Naught and Co turns 23!!!

Mc Naught and Company celebrated a full 23 years in business on the 1st of March this year.

That's 23 years we have been providing FastTrack mortgage bond registrations and property transfers to the Bluff, Durban, Hillcrest and Amanzimtoti communities!

As they say, with age comes experience, and we are only getting faster in registering matters.

Here's to the next 23 years of great service!!

Mc Naught and Co hits Top 10!

All attorneys are rated by the banks in terms of how fast we can register mortgage bonds.

Mc Naught and Company have just entered the Top 10 Attorneys list for the fastest registration times on Standard Bank Further Mortgage Bonds in Kwa-Zulu Natal!

Just another way we're trying to make conveyancing Simpler, Better and Faster!!

Seminar Success

Enjoying the recent seminars held by Mc Naught and Company are Real Estate Agents from Tyson's Properties, Pam Golding Estates, Acutts, Nationlink, Chelin's, Sotheby's, Re/Max, and Huizemark.

January 2007 News

Despite having staff on hand to register the last transactions during the festive season, the Deeds Office went on a go-slow during December.
We are still struggling to get registration of matters lodged in the first 2 weeks of December and this is causing endless problems for everyone concerned. There is no explanation for this and conveyancers are tearing their hair out.

What we need are some whips and chains, says Dave Mc Naught, principal of Mc Naught and Company. It is really unacceptable for matters lodged on the 12th December 2006 to only come up for registration now. Our office staff were on stand-by to effect registrations any day over December. May 2007 bring us a sense of urgency and efficiency!!!

Dave’s daughter Kate-Lynn (right) and neice Ola (left) try and catch some summer sun in the few days decent weather over Christmas. Kate-Lynn got 3 A’s, 3B’s and a C in her Matric exams.

The Contracts Seminars being run by Mc Naught and Company have been most successful with Agents thoroughly enjoying the informal but informative half day courses offered by Dave Mc Naught. The January Seminar bookings are now closed, but due to the demand, a February date has been added. Book your seat now.

Our 100 000th cheque

Wow!! It is the end of an era as banking for most firms moves from cheque-writing to electronic banking. Mc Naught and Company is no different and the days of writing cheques are over. However, not before reaching a milestone of 100 000 cheques in our banking history with Standard Bank. This means over the last 20 years we must have paid Standard Bank at least R1 mil in bank charges alone.

With us from Standard Bank for a ceremony to mark the occassion are (l to r) Mike Biyase, Kerry Daniels, Reinette Mandich (Branch Manager Jacobs), Dave Mc Naught (Mc Naught and Co), Keshni Govender, Jenny Ishwarlall, and Nathan Govender (Provincial Manager: Business Market).