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Independent Contractor Posts in Tax Q&A


How to claim a home office deduction if I didn't receive an IRP5?

  Written by Nicci  

I worked for an international company (UK based) during the 2024 tax year. I was a contracted employee, meaning I had to submit salary invoices. Therefore, I was advised to register as a provisional tax payer and submitted an IRP6. I worked 100% from home during this time and would like to claim a home office deduction, which was already taken into account during my IRP6 submission (audited by SARS and accepted). However, when submitting my home office deduction on Tax Tim for my IRT12, it says ...



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Depreciation on furniture bought for rental property

  Written by Alicia  

I bought furniture for R 172 000 back in 2018 for my rental property. This was bought through the developer as part of a rental pool offering. Rental pool contract stating furniture costs, e-mail clarifications and proof of payment for this is in my possession but not the actual receipts or individual pricing for the items. According to the TaxTim depreciation calculator, I can claim around R 28 600 in 2022 tax year. My question is, can I claim this with the documentation in my possession and ca...



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How do I do my taxes as a freelancer?

  Written by Alicia  

I'm a freelancer  - how do I do my taxes? Do I register as provisional taxpayer or can I still pay PAYE monthly?

Should I trade as a SBC or Sole Proprietor?

  Written by Alicia  

I've secured a contract of R3. 1m for two years which is going to be invoiced at R130k per month. Whats the best way to go about this? Should I set-up my business as an SBC or sole proprietor?

I'm a remote worker who needs help with their tax

  Written by Alicia  


I'm an independent contractor working remotely for an international company. The company is not obligated to pay my tax, therefore I need to do it myself.  However,  I'm not sure what the process entails.  Please can you offer help?

Tax on my travel allowance

  Written by Nicci  

My employer is satisfied that only 60% of my travel allowance will be for business purpose, do I only include the 60% in my monthly payslip for PAYE purposes or do I revert back to the 80/20 rule?

What percentage tax does a person as a consultant pay?

  Written by Nicci  

I have been offered a job as a part time consultant. The company says that I must pay tax directly to SARS. How much tax will I have to pay directly to SARS?

I work two jobs - can I claim internet for both?

  Written by Nicci  

I work two jobs as an independent contractor in addition to my full-time salary. I use the same fibre internet connection for both these jobs which is debited on a monthly basis. Am I correct in saying I can only claim for it once on my tax return, and not twice for both jobs?

Then I also want to know if my TaxTim payment is deductible? 

My seafarer exemption was rejected. What do I do now?

  Written by Nicci  

I received a SARS assessment after submitting my tax return via TaxTim. During the submission, there was no payment to SARS expected. However I then received an assessment for a large (R2m) balance owed. At the time I assumed it was a mistake or a premature assessment before my documents had been processed, but I've now received an email from SARS stating Outstanding Debt. Please could you assist me with understanding the significant discrepancy between the TaxTim calculation and the SARS assess...



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Accepted auto assess forgot my travel logbook

  Written by Neo  

What will happen if I already accepted my auto assessment, but I have done so without submitting my travel logbook, am I able to fix this myself, what should I do? Am I correct in saying that I would need to request some sort of correction on eFiling and how would I go about doing this? How and where on the eFiling system should I go to get the request for correction?

What must I do with the auto-assessment from SARS?

  Written by Neo  

I received an SMS from SARS which says something about an auto-assessment. When I login to eFiling I see there is an option to accept or edit it. Are there any risks involved with accepting it? What should I look out for? Please help, I know nothing about this new SARS process.

I received an auto assessment sms from SARS

  Written by Neo  

SARS has sent me an SMS saying they have calculated my assessment tax and I can accept or edit this. I have done an early tax return with TaxTim and I'm not sure what to do now as I cannot submit that tax return until 1 Sep 2022

Auto Assess and Travel expenses

  Written by Neo  

I have received an SMS, stating that my tax has been assessed automatically and that a refund is due of R7000,00 however I do not know if my travelling has been taken into account as I have not sent anything yet. Could you help me in clarifying this matter? Should I accept it as it is, would this not have an impact on my tax return to SARS when I do finally submit it?

Can a sole proprietor claim for vehicle maintenance?

  Written by Neo  

Can a sole proprietor (extra income, working from home) claim for vehicle maintenance (I do most maintenance myself, but have invoices for the parts) and insurance if he did not keep an accurate logbook?

What is the difference between Pensionable and non-pensionable salary?

  Written by Marc  

Q: Please explain the tax calculation between pensionable and non-pensionable salary

SARS asked for calculation for depreciation on laptop

  Written by Evan  

I completed my tax return through TaxTim. SARS asked me now to show them how we calculated depreciation on the laptop I use for work. Can you help me with this as I don't know what to give them?

What happens once I've submitted my tax return form?

  Written by Marc  

One of the questions most asked when it comes to tax season, is “what happens now that I’ve submitted my income tax return, when do I get my refund?”’

If you’re due a tax refund then you will probably get the money deposited into your account within a few days. SARS will also email or SMS you telling you that an IT34 (Summary of your return and refund) and ITSA (Income Tax Statement of Account) have been issued. They will detail your tax refund (tax back) if any. So look forward to that deposit into your account. ...



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Car vs car allowance tax

  Written by Marc  

From a tax perspective which is more beneficial to an employee: a car allowance or a company provided vehicle? What would the impact be on either if the employee does not travel sufficient business kilometres on both?

How to calculate provident fund deductions for 2016/2017?

  Written by Nicci  

Please can you show an example of how the employer and employee's provident fund will affect the monthly tax 2021/2022. I still do salaries manually.

Tax deduction - Asset write-off for small items

  Written by Marc  

Is it true that the acquisition of "small" items at a cost of less than R 7000 per item may be written off during the year of acquisition? I bought a laptop for R 6999.00 in December 2012. I am an IT contractor.

What does code 3801 and 3810 on irp5 stand for? If fringe benefits why wont they appear on payslip?

  Written by Marc  

I am currently completing my 2 daughters, my son in law, my husband and my tax returns for the 2015 tax year and I am unsure of code 3801 and 3810 on my daughter's tax return. What could these fringe benefits be? I don't see it on her payslips? Her salary structure is that her salary as a cash amount and travel allowance on her payslip as well her medical aid, disability, provident, Income protection insurance and ancillary fee but her IRP5 does not show the above on her IRP5?
Confused! Doe...



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Freelancer and Tax payments

  Written by Neo  

I am currently working as a freelance artist who just started earning money from the work which I do, but at the moment I earn approximately R600.00 a month. I also have not been working for a long time before I began with the freelance job, it has been just over 7 months. Do I still need to pay my taxes even though my income isn't fixed and stable? If that is the case I need help in knowing how I can calculate how much of the tax I would need to pay.

Is VAT on commission subjected to income tax?

  Written by Neo  

If an individual who is a registered as VAT vendor acts as an Agent and earns commission ad obviously charges output tax and declares it to SARS.

I.e. Someone who has invoiced out R100.00 and declared an output tax of R13.04 to SARS, when the time comes to file their personal income tax does the person have to declare the same amount being R86.96 excluding VAT as their commission income and do they have to pay income tax on the above amount?

Will that not be double taxati...



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VAT on interest

  Written by Marc  

I have a business that collects debt on behalf of other service providers, we eventually charge interest if the payments are overdue longer than 3 months. Are we required to charge VAT on this interest?


How do independent contractors get taxed?

  Written by Marc  

I will be taking a new job that requires me to be a contractor. There are mixed opinions on how contractors get taxed. The consulting company assures me this is a flat rate of 25%, but on reading SAICA's website I found this little nugget: " If the independent contractor works more than 22 hours a week, he/she must be taxed in terms of the income tax tables".
I will definitely be working more than 22 hours a week, can you tell me things will work, please?

The question of tax relates to how you are perceived to be working for the "employer" to whom you will be contracting out to...



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