The new SARS solar energy tax credit
The tax credit for individuals installing solar panels is here, for a limited time only. The proposed new law regarding the tax credit available to individuals who install solar panels has been announced. The system will be introduced in the form of a tax credit, as opposed to a tax deduction. This is good news, […]
IRP5 not uploaded? Expect significant delays
When an employer’s failure to upload an IRP5 brings SARS to a grinding halt. One of my clients has recently retired and like all retirees, they went through the whole rigmarole of completing the numerous forms required by their employer retirement fund so that the fund can calculate their lump sum entitlement and monthly pension. […]
Disclose your defaults before SARS finds them!
A grim warning for South African taxpayers. Long gone are the days when tax fraudsters could run circles around SARS, which has intensified its efforts to crack down on tax evasion by pursuing criminal action against non-compliant taxpayers. One example is when SARS came knocking on the door of a private hospital and its director, […]
How SARS catches tax-dodgers
SARS auditors employ methods that most people wouldn’t have even considered. How does the South African Revenue Service (SARS) catch those who do not contribute their fair share to state coffers? Here are some tests that SARS auditors perform to see if you are being somewhat economical with the truth. Comparing VAT returns to your […]
Another year, another mini-budget
2022 MTBPS Review: Relatively more pro-growth, and firmly consolidating In previous years the MTBPS, otherwise known as the ‘mini-Budget’, has served as an economic and fiscal ‘fork in the road’, reflecting on Budgets past and setting out the policy framework for forthcoming Budgets. In other words, the MTBPS is exactly what it says on the […]
Never do things just ‘for tax purposes’
A decision based solely on tax considerations is likely to be the wrong one.“I hate tax!” These were the words spoken by a director of one of the clients of the audit firm with whom I served articles. Whilst many would agree with this sentiment towards the tax-man, this particular individual’s zeal in devising schemes […]
Transfer duty – No surprises: Part 2
The Transfer Duty Act 40/1949 (“the Act”) states that transfer duty (duty) is to be levied on any property acquired by any person by way of a transaction. The Act is clear as to whom and by when the duty is to be paid. It states that the duty shall be payable by the person […]
Tax compliance lives beyond death
A deceased estate takes on a (tax) life of its own while being wound up I started my first job back in September 1987 at the tender age of 18, and approximately nine months later I received my very first income tax return from the Receiver of Revenue (as SARS was known in those days), […]
When SARS requests supporting documents
E-filing doesn’t allow ‘secured’ or password-protected documents to be uploaded—but there is a solution Following SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter’s announcement that he intends to rebuild SARS’ enforcement capabilities as part of his quest to become the scourge of recalcitrant taxpayers, there has been a noticeable increase in requests from SARS for the submission of supporting […]
Testamentary trusts still have their place
How you can protect your assets from predators—including SARS. Trusts have received a lot of bad press over the past few years, what with SARS taking a dim view of the use of trusts as a means of avoiding tax. A 2008 case involving a property trust, where the beneficiaries were changed in the hope […]