Advisers, or "facilitators", who assisted individuals to move money offshore illegally, will not be eligible for amnesty in terms of new draft legislation.

National Treasury chief director for tax policy, Martin Grote, said a last-minute amendment to the draft Exchange Control Amnesty and Amendment of Taxation Laws Bill excluded advisers.

Among other reasons, this was because the proposed amnesty required minimum disclosure.

"As the amnesty bill minimises on disclosure requirements, the perceived danger of them discouraging individuals to come forward with a view of coming clean falls away."

There was also no benefit to the state in offering advisers amnesty because no assets would return to South Africa, and a "higher standard of professionalism" was expected of them, he told Parliament's finance portfolio committee on Thursday.

South Africans who stashed money offshore in contravention of exchange control and income tax laws will be free from criminal or civil prosecution, provided they successfully apply for amnesty between May 1 and October 31 this year.

This is in line with an announcement by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in his Budget speech on February 26.

Treasury tax consultant Prof Keith Engel said it would have been attractive for the state to study information on schemes used by advisers or facilitators to move money abroad, but this was not the purpose of the amnesty.

"The issue that was more important was to build up the tax base.

"It is not a witch hunt... we are not going to get into investigations," he said.

According to the draft bill, applicants must submit an affidavit or sworn declaration stating they had not generated the money through unlawful activities.

"If that's not there, you can't get through the gates," Grote said.

The amnesty unit -- to be formed from representatives of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and SA Reserve Bank (SARB) -- would only require personal details, the amount of assets to which the amnesty should apply, and where this was held.

However, individuals who had already received notices from the Sars or SARB indicating they were under investigation, would not be entitled to amnesty.

The information given to the unit would be held in complete confidence, and may not be used against an individual should the application fail.

But the amnesty would only apply for the amount stipulated, he said.

Committee chairwoman Barbara Hogan on Thursday said she was concerned about how Sars would in future years be able to verify additional assets declared on a taxpayer's annual return.

She suggested the information supplied for amnesty purposes should be kept by the SARB and revenue service, although only for updating files and not for any form of investigation.

The bill states that South Africans wishing to repatriate assets will be charged a five percent levy, while those choosing to keep the money offshore will pay a 10 percent charge.

Only amounts higher than the current exchange control allowance --R750000 for individuals and R1,5-million for married couples -- would be used to calculate the levy.

The repatriation and payment must be made within three months after the amnesty unit has granted approval, although a further three-month extension may be granted in certain cases.

The parliamentary committee is due to meet on Monday to consider private sector submissions on the draft bill.

The measure is expected to be tabled in Parliament on April 9, and debated by the National Assembly the following day - Sapa