Tax clearance certificates
Taxpayers may require SARS to issue them with a tax clearance certificate for various reasons. This includes a general confirmation that the relevant taxpayer’s affairs are all in order and up to date (a so-called “Good Standing” tax clearance certificate), or a certificate being required to participate in certain government tenders. Perhaps most notably in […]
Company tax in South Africa
If you are self-employed or a business owner, you have to pay company tax in South Africa. How much business tax you pay and what deductions you can claim will depend on the size and type of your business. What is company tax? Company tax (also called, “corporate income tax”) is what keeps our economy functional. There exists […]
Interest free loans cross border
A consideration of the tax consequences of interest free loans will be incomplete if not also considered in the context of interest free debt funding being provided cross-border. Typically, when “cheap debt” is encountered it is in the form of low interest or interest free loans being provided to related parties (or “connected persons” as […]
Provisional Tax Rules
Since the provisional tax season has arrived, it is important to remember the rules regarding your estimates. The provisional tax payment must be received by SARS on or before the due date, 28 February 2017. Failure to do so could result in penalties and interest imposed by SARS. Important rules regarding provisional tax Provisional tax is […]
Dire provisional tax penalties on underestimation of income
Provisional taxpayers are generally those taxpayers who earn income from sources other than a salary. In other words, PAYE is not deducted from these other sources of income on a monthly basis and paid over to SARS. As is the case with PAYE, provisional tax presents a cash flow mechanism to National Treasury through which […]
Dividends tax compliance
Our clients will know that the dividends tax replaced the old Secondary Tax on Companies (“STC”) effectively 1 April 2012 already. Briefly, the STC was a tax on companies and calculated as a factor of dividends declared by that company. The regime was somewhat out of touch with international trends though (which also gave rise […]
Employer Interim Reconciliation
In the past SARS required the Employer Reconciliation to be done every twelve months. A few years ago SARS introduced the Employer Interim Reconciliation in addition to the annual Employer Reconciliation. The Employer Interim Reconciliation have the same requirements as the Employer Reconciliation, with two exceptions: 1. The Interim Reconciliation is completed for six months […]
Due dates published for submitting annual and Interim Employer Reconciliations
On 15 April 2016 the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) announced the due dates whereby employers are required to finalise and submit their annual and interim Employer Reconciliation declarations to SARS. The notice, published on 15 April 2016 in Government Gazette No. 39922, determines that: the annual declarations for the period 1 […]
Objecting to an assessment
One of the risks of not using a tax professional to attend to one’s tax affairs arises when SARS assesses an individual’s income tax return. Quite often, a return submitted is assessed incorrectly, or on a basis in terms of which SARS is disputing certain submissions made by the taxpayer in filing his or her […]
Transactions required to be reported to SARS in terms of government notice
Section 37 of the Tax Administration Act, 28 of 2011 (‘the Admin Act’) requires taxpayers to report a transaction which would qualify as a ‘reportable arrangement’. Failure to do so will result in a monthly penalty being levied against non-compliant taxpayers ranging from between R50,000 to R300,000 per month (section 212), for up to 12 […]