There was still no clarity from the SA Revenue Service (Sars) or the Master's Office on alternatives to replace the use of revenue stamps, the Fiduciary Institute of SA (FISA) said on Tuesday.
FISA said in a statement it had hoped that clarity would have been provided in the Government Gazette on Friday last week.
This, however, was not the case.
"The Stamp Duties Act was initially abolished with effect from March 31 2009, but this date was extended to October 31, 2009, to allow time for government departments using revenue stamps to introduce alternative measures," said Aaron Roup, FISA secretary.
"To date the Master's Office of the High Court and Sars have failed to propose how documents such as trust deeds can be lodged, and the registration fee, as stipulated in the regulations to the Trust Property Control Act, can be paid," he said.
Roup said that without the relevant legal authority to transact, members of the public and fiduciary practitioners, acting as nominees for corporate trustees of trusts awaiting registration, would be prevented from transacting in the name of the trust.
This could cause delays and jeopardise possible transactions involving the trust.
"This could in turn lead to financial losses being incurred by the trust, based on the delay in issuing the legal documents to effectively administer the trust," Roup said.
The abolition of stamp duty was likely to have a major impact on the Master's Office, "which is already in administrative chaos", he said.
According to FISA, the situation was "untenable".
"At issue is how to transact with the Master's Office in order to register a trust deed," Roup said.
He said the Stamp Duties Act no longer existed and the regulations to the Trust Property Control Act stated that the only way to register a trust was to affix revenue stamps of R100 for the deed and R4.50 for a certified copy.
However from October 31, such stamps could no longer be used and franking machines would have been decommissioned by law.
"What needs to have happened was an amendment of the relevant clauses in the regulations attached to the Trust Property Control Act, which could have been effected by a simple proclamation in the Government Gazette," Roup said.
"Even if this had been done, which it has not, the solution is inadequate: if an extension were granted for the use of stamps and franking machines, there is no longer stock available; if the clauses were revoked such that only cash transactions may be done at the Master's Office, who will audit the cash box?" he asked.
Apart from long queues there was the also the inherent risk of fraud being perpetrated in respect of the management of the new payment system, he said.
He said both Sars and the Master's Office had to offer urgent clarity.
