uggh, saash and ajt - the fringe benefit question is a bit complicated to put down in a simple answer, but koudos to saash for raising it as it is indeed very valid. firstly, to state the obvious, fringe benefit taxation can only apply if there is an employer/employee relationship. then there is a rule change to consider, different rules applied to share options before october 2004. it also matters what type of scheme it is. so effectively there are 2 sets of rules (pre and post 2004) that apply to 2 types of schemes : broad-based employee share plans and any plan that is NOT a broad based employee share plan. typically the broad based plan is generic and very limited. in order for a scheme to qualify for instance, no one employee is allowed tro receive more than R 9000 worth of shares in any 3 year period. no tax is payable on these shares if you hold them for 5 years and the company can even give you an interst free loan tro finance the shares. anyway, i guess AJT's SAB scheme will not fall into that category. for you, the important term to remember is "vesting". shares become vested when you are freely able to dispose of them (whether you do or not is immaterial) and that is when you pay tax on the market value. i'll contain myself and not bore everyone with pre oct 2004 rules ;)
