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Independent Contractor Posts in Tax Q&A

Earning dollars as a freelancer



I've been working as a freelancer (part-time) for the past year and I've been earning money in dollars. How will this affect my tax return?
I also work as a full-time employee.

Tax as a remote worker



My primary source of income comes from an overseas company who I work remotely for (it's on a permanent basis but I'm not under a contract). I get paid every month, through TransferWise, in dollars. I also earn some income off royalty based products and some freelance creative jobs. I'm finding it quite complicated to set up a tax paying structure with this setup. Could you possibly give me some advice on how I could set up a tax paying structure with this way of working?

Tax Directive for a settlement agreement.



I'm receiving a settlement from my company as part of an exit agreement. Can I apply for a directive, and how?

Employed on Contract Basis (PAYE)



I've gone from working for an employer to freelancing and now I'm working on
a contract basis. I'm not taxed on my contract income. All I do is send an invoice and they pay me and deduct nothing off that. I'd like to still pay SARS the PAYE, is that possible? (I have my own retirement fund).

Tax help for freelancers



I've recently become a full-time freelancer and I wanted to know if you'd be able to help me file my tax returns?

What type of tax category do I fall into?



I have one client in the US, I use all my own equipment and work from home. What type of taxes should I be filing? I am based in South Africa and bring funds through via PayPal, I am not taxed in the US as I am considered a independent contractor.

Working for a salary that varies



I am starting a career as a tour guide and the company will require us to
sort our own taxes out. The amount of money I will earn per month will
vary. The salary will consist out of a salary paid from the company per
trip, as well as tips.

How do I go about tax when your salary will vary per month?

Petrol and travel allowance claims



How do I claim petrol on tax? For the previous tax year I've kept a detailed petrol log through your app and I've been using my own petrol card and claiming back. I do receive a travel allowance. The company has now given us petrol cards, do I still need to keep a log to claim or can I not claim because the company is paying?



Help with past tax returns



I've been working for the past 5 years and have never claimed back tax. I have all my IRP5 certificates since I started working. I have no travel allowance, I usually pay for everything with my own finances. I'm registered for tax with SARS, but I'm not sure if I'm registered on SARS eFiling.

Waiting for my VAT number



Can I charge VAT while waiting for my VAT registration to come through? How can I legally show VAT on a invoice to a customer while waiting for my VAT number? The company registration and income tax is done.

Can I claim if not reimbursed by my employer?



My employer doesn't reimburse me for traveling in between the office and our sites. I don't have a company car but I drive about 92KM per day between the office and on of our sites. Would it be possible to claim KMs from SARS for the use of my private car? And the company doesn't provide a cellphone allowance but I'm required to use my phone a lot at work. I receive no allowance and I'm not a commission earner. Can I claim for the contract I was forced to take?

Are orthodontist expenses tax deductible?



Can I claim tax on an orthodontist expense for my child's braces? They are not covered by medical aid.

How to make changes after submissions?



I submitted my 2016 tax return using my actual cost on my travel expenses. How can I have it changed to fixed cost as my business travel was about 16000km whilst my actual cost was only R399.00? My tax return was audited by SARS and I've disputed on these grounds several times as well as gone to SARS twice. I've been told that it's possible to have this changed and the consultant at SARS has requested it be done on their system but no change so far. The latest statement still reflects only R217,...

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Income from overseas



My wife does some occasional freelance work for a company overseas. As well as here in South Africa.
Her local freelance brings in about R3500 per month. She doesn't currently pay provisional tax as the amounts are too small. She's recently taken on some international freelance work that amounts to
about R10500 every second month or so. What are the tax implications of the international income?
Does she need to declare it and can she declare it as a donation?

How can I depreciate my small business equipment if I dont have invoices?



I have a mobile phone; laptop; tablet and home office furniture which I use for my small business. I bought them four years ago, but I've never depreciated them because this is my first year of business. Can I depreciate them now even if I don't have the invoices anymore? And, if I don't depreciate them can I just record it as a company asset? These IT equipment were bought second hand and some are old.

Provisional Tax Submission



I freelanced for the 2016 tax year. I just applied to be a provisional taxpayer on SARS eFiling. Do I need to fill out an IRP3(pa)? And when is my first provisional tax payment due?

Incorrect Tax Code



My employers incorrectly submitted my 2016 tax return with a code of 3601 instead of 3616. I'm a contractor with a fixed term contract and end dates and receive no company benefits. They refuse to submit an EMP601 correction which SARS has asked for, I think they are concerned they will be audited. I am therefore having to pay a tax bill. Is there anything I can do?

Cruise Ship employee and Tax Laws



I'm a SA resident and work on a cruise ship as a waiter for a company that travels all over the world. Most of my income is derived through gratuity from passengers. How would this relate to the new tax law for foreign income mentioned in the latest budget speech affect us? Will I be subjected to pay tax on the gratuity I earn?

Working from Home



I work from home and make approximately R25000/month. I don't do much traveling and I
manage everything from my desk. I service one company only- I'm basically working for myself. They don't cover any tax etc. and I receive this
payment monthly. What's the best way to deal with the Tax?

Forgot to submit travel details



I have submitted my tax return, but I forgot to include the details for my travel allowance (3702), i.e. vehicle details and logbook details. An ITA34 was issued. How do I submit a revised tax return?

Registering as a Provisional Tax Payer?



I had freelance jobs and although I don't own my
own business/am not registered as a business. All but one of the freelance
jobs were taxed.
Should I register as a provisional tax payer? If so, how do I go about
doing this and what deductions can I make? e.g. Can I claim for Uber trips,
cellphone bills, wear and tear on my equipment (computer, camera) etc? If I
can claim for things like this, how do I go about doing it?

Tax for a Contractor working from home



We have a contractor that's working from home. He primarily does work for our company. How does tax work, do we need to submit an IRP5? We've been paying him directly without deducting any PAYE or TAX

A notice of objection



SARS didn't accept my log books, my 2015 tax return, there's zero KMs for business use.
I now need to object and they require proof of ownership- I have documents from Wesbank. Lastly, can I do this via TaxTim or must I go into SARS?

An example of a logbook printout



I need an example of what the TaxTim logbook would look like, when printed out.

How to enter a severance payment in my provisional tax return?



I'm doing my provisional tax return and received a severance payments during the year as part of a voluntary retrenchment. My employer applied for a tax directive which was successful and I received the lump sum pay-out with the tax benefits associated on the sliding scale. How do I deal with this in my provisional tax return? If I enter the severance payment gross amount, the SARS eFiling system calculates taxes on it using the normal tax tables (it gets calculated at the highest marginal rate...

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