Written by Nicci
Posted 22 November 2019
The deadline for non-provisional taxpayers to file their tax return is just around the corner. Taxpayers have until 4th December to submit their return and avoid unwanted penalties and interest.
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Written by Neo
Posted 11 November 2019
We often receive questions from taxpayers as to how to structure their salary most efficiently for tax purposes. Unfortunately, the reality is that the days of employees gaining a tax advantage The deadline for 2019’s tax season is 4 December, just less than a month away, so it’s time to seriously focus on your tax returns. Last week, Tito Mboweni, the finance minister confirmed during his medium-term budget announcement When you retire, your soon to be ‘ex-employer’ might offer to continue to pay your medical aid. If you are one of the fortunate few to receive such a benefit, read on for some things to look out for: A few years ago, SARS introduced a new section onto the Tax Return called “Unemployed Periods.” Taxpayers are required to complete this section by entering all the times within the tax year they were not working. We receive many questions from taxpayers about how to declare their income in the event that they are married in Community of Property (CoP). From the 25th October 2019, the printed Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) will be substituted by the electronic Tax Compliance Status (TCS). This new digital version of the TCC allows for a more secure experience. When SARS has completed their audit, they send a letter called a Verfication of Asssment/Completion Letter. This has the following wording: VERIFICATION OF ASSESSMENT We refer to the verification of the assessment for the 20xx tax period. Please note that no adjustment has been made to this assessment. However, in terms of the Tax Administration Act the South African Revenue Service reserves the right to conduct further reviews in ... With the first provisional return still fresh in the minds of taxpayers, we thought it would be a good time to highlight some questions that were asked to our Helpdesk last month. We’ve recently received many questions from taxpayers asking us if we physically went into a SARS office to submit their returns manually. You have filed all your outstanding tax returns with SARS and when receiving your ITA34 assessment/ Statement of Account/ Penalty statement you notice that you owe SARS some tax. There are three main options available to you, if you want to make a payment to SARS. On 20 June 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the sixth parliament, and for the first time in years, we witnessed an uninterrupted SONA. And that is not the only first. For the first time, the SONA cost almost R2m, a staggering 47% lower than the cost of SONA 2018 and the lowest in five years. You may have heard the recent announcement from SARS that certain taxpayers who earn less than R500 000 per year don’t need to submit a tax return. However, this only applies under very specific conditions so it is extremely important to understand these fully if you think you may be affected. You can read all about this rule here. This year SARS are taking things one step further. They ... At TaxTim we receive many questions from taxpayers who pay medical aid for dependent family members and who want to know if they can claim for this in their tax return. When paying medical aid contributions for a ‘financial dependent’ the medical scheme fees tax credit applies in respect of fees paid by the person to a medical scheme. This means that the person who is paying the medical aid will receive the medical tax credits, and not the dependent/member of the medical aid. Who is a ‘dependent’?... TaxTim is seeing cases where taxpayers who had already submitted their documents in early July to SARS are, around ten days to two weeks later, receiving a further two letters from SARS requesting documents again. The one letter is the generic letter with the long list of documents, which was originally issued, while the second, contains a more specific request relating to the taxpayer’s tax return. Usually SARS issued an immediate assessment, however sometimes they do need to do a further manual check on their side. Often the reason for this is one of the following: Our helpdesk receives hundreds of questions from commission earners about how their tax is calculated. Many are also confused about which expenses they can claim. Hopefully our FAQ will help other taxpayers who might be puzzling over the same issues. Should the commiss... You may have seen the latest announcement by the SARS commissioner to increase the qualifying threshold for certain taxpayers to submit a tax return from R350 000 to R500 000. However as with all previous years, this only applies to certain taxpayers and so it is very important to check if you are one of these. The threshold applies to you only if you meet ALL of the criteria below: By now you would have seen the latest announcement by the SARS commissioner to increase the qualifying threshold for certain taxpayers There are times when the call centre agent from SARS is unable to resolve your issue and you need to reach out to a more senior person at SARS. You can request to speak to a team leader / operations manager or the branch / call centre manager and they should be able to assist you. Always remember to note down the case number for your call. If however, you're not satisfied with the outcome of the issue, you can lodge a formal complaint with an agent at a SARS branch or on eFiling (if y... This week we zoom into Wear and Tear also commonly known as Depreciation. Below we've covered some of the top questions we've received from our Helpdesk. Take a quick read through our Q&As and see how your pressing depreciation questions can potentially be solved. It’s that time of the year again and employers are issuing their employees IRP5s for the tax year. An IRP5 is a tax certificate which shows the total employment income that you earned for the tax year, the total employment related deductions that were taken from your income and paid over to either a retirement fund (pension, provident or retirement annuity fund) or a medical aid and the total tax (PAYE, UIF and SDL) that you paid... If you are an Uber driver, you use your own vehicle/s to generate your income and you determine your own working hours, you will be treated as being self-employed (i.e. an independent contractor) for tax purposes. Since you do not earn a salary, you should be registered as a provisional taxpayer with SARS. From our numerous interactions with small business owners, it seems that many draw up the company’s financial statements by themselves, without engaging the services of a professional. Many don’t use accounting software but opt for a simple excel spreadsheet instead. Although this is cost-effective, it can be a daunting task, particularly for those with a sketchy (or non-existent) accounting background.
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Pay your taxes by 4 December or face the consequences
Written by Neo
Posted 7 November 2019
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My medical aid is paid by my former employer: How does this affect my tax?
Written by Neo
Posted 23 October 2019
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Unemployed Periods
Written by Neo
Posted 14 October 2019
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Top Questions on Tax and Marriage
Written by Neo
Posted 10 October 2019
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SARS terminates Tax Clearance Certificates from October 25th
Written by Patrick
Posted 9 October 2019
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TaxTim in Fairlady Magazine
Written by Neo
Posted 7 October 2019
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Verification of Assessment - what now?
Written by Marc
Posted 25 September 2019
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Top Questions on Provisional Tax
Written by Neo
Posted 13 September 2019
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Return Status ‘Filed through Branch’ " What Does This Mean?
Written by Neo
Posted 13 September 2019
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Making payments to SARS
Written by Neo
Posted 5 September 2019
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SONA 2019 - A Short Summary
Written by Patrick
Posted 23 July 2019
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SARS has done a ‘simulated calculation’ for me " what does this mean?
Written by Neo
Posted 19 July 2019
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How to claim medical aid costs for a family member
Written by Neo
Posted 19 July 2019
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Why is SARS requesting my supporting documents again?
Written by Neo
Posted 15 July 2019
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What should I do if I have no assessment from SARS after having filed a return?
Written by Marc
Posted 11 July 2019
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Top questions on Commission Earners
Written by Neo
Posted 7 June 2019
1. I have a salary and earn a small commission; can I claim for my travel to and from work every day? (The commission is based on the sales that my team makes telephonically per month).
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Clarifying the tax return threshold set by SARS
Written by Neo
Posted 4 June 2019
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Top Questions on tax seasons
Written by Nicci
Posted 4 June 2019
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How to lodge a complaint with SARS
Written by Neo
Posted 28 May 2019
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Wear and Tear (Depreciation) Top Questions
Written by Neo
Posted 21 May 2019
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Top Questions on IRP5s
Written by Neo
Posted 9 May 2019
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Tax Treatment for Uber Drivers
Written by Neo
Posted 24 April 2019
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A basic overview of the Balance Sheet and Income Statement
Written by Neo
Posted 17 April 2019
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