Medical aid premiums deducted for a sole proprietorship through income statement

  Written by Alicia   Posted 8 December 2025

If I am a sole proprietor can I expense my monthly medical aid premium in full through the income statement?

Tax treatment of a director's loan

  Written by Alicia   Posted 8 December 2025

What are the tax implication if I loan money to my company to buy a vehicle?
We have a loan agreement in which the company will repay the loan to me in instalments over 36 months.
The agreement also states that I am able to use the vehicle for business purposes and that I should pay an additional fee for a maintenance plan.

Should I be registered for VAT?

  Written by Alicia   Posted 27 November 2025

Dear TaxTim
It has recently come to my attention that I should maybe have registered for VAT. Can you please advise me. I am a contractor providing a writing and editing service mostly to one client, but also to a few smaller ones and my income is in excess of R1 million. I am not registered as a company and I have very few expenses so little to claim by way of input tax.

Claim medical expenses for my mom who is not on my medical aid?

  Written by Alicia   Posted 20 November 2025

How can I claim medical expenses for my mom who is a dependent but not on a medical aid? she is also disabled. She has a few disabilities that I have incurred Medical expenses for and I'm not sure how / where to enter this information on my Tax Return.

This query relates to question 18136 "Do any of these expenses relate to a physical impairment or disability as approved by SARS?" in the Medical section.

IRP5 from an unrecognized company

  Written by Nicci   Posted 5 May 2025

There is an IRP5 from a company I don't recognise, with a value I didn't enter. I have two IRP5's and entered that data but on my final submission I can see three IRP5's. How can I verify if this is correct or not as I don't want to get penalised. It could be from moving a Retirement Annuity but will I have to pay tax on this, or will it effect my tax return in any way?

Unemployed Periods Section on the ITR12 Tax Return

  Written by Nicci   Posted 24 April 2025

There is a section on the ITR12 tax return that asks you to indicate any periods during the tax year when you were not working (i.e., were unemployed).

This section applies only to South African tax residents who are salaried employees and receive an IRP5.

...

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Salary and Consulting

  Written by Alicia   Posted 24 April 2025

I am already paying income tax on my salary, I now want to do consulting work, what is the best way to handle tax in this regard?

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

  Written by Nicci   Posted 20 February 2025

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   Posted 12 June 2024

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   Posted 16 May 2024

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   Updated 14 May 2024

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   Updated 14 May 2024


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   Posted 24 April 2024

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   Posted 23 April 2024

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   Posted 23 April 2024

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   Posted 30 January 2024

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 Nicci   Updated 3 May 2022

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 Nicci   Updated 3 May 2022

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 Nicci   Updated 28 April 2022

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 Nicci   Updated 26 April 2022

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 Nicci   Updated 26 April 2022

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   Posted 8 April 2022

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

SARS asked for calculation for depreciation on laptop

  Written by Evan   Updated 6 April 2022

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   Posted 6 April 2022

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   Updated 6 April 2022

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?
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