President Cyril Ramaphosa made the following key announcements in the State of the Nation Address (SoNA) he delivered on 10 February 2022.
Economic issues were high on the Agenda. There is recognition that unemployment, poverty, and inequality need to be addressed to create conditions for long-term stability and development. New energy generation projects were once again promised.
Progress is being made with Covid-19 vaccinations. Thirty million doses have been administered, w...
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1. SARS eFiling connection issue: Resolved
Problem description
When TaxTim tries to connect to individual taxpayers' profiles, eFiling is returning an 'unexpected system error'. This is affecting all Tax Practitioners.
How taxpayers are affected
TaxTim cannot connect to the taxpayer's eF...
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If you’re a provisional taxpayer, make sure you file your tax return before or on the deadline of 31 January 2022. You can check here to see if you are a provisional taxpayer.
SARS is warning that those who fail to submit on time, will face penalties. Legislation has changed and you will have to pay penalties come February 2022 if you have not submitted one or more...
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Does SARS regard cryptocurrency as a real currency?
No - SARS does not regard cryptocurrency as a currency, but rather as an intangible asset. In fact, the annual tax return (ITR12) refers to 'Crypto Assets' and not Cryptocurrency. As there are currently no laws or regulations governing the use of cryptocurrency in South Africa, crypto traders or users have limited legal protection according to the general common law. In other words, if you choose to use or trade cryptocurrency you do so at your own risk.
...
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Perhaps you just tried to submit your tax return and you instantly got an error relating to 3696 and 3699. As frustrating as it could be, don’t worry the error can be fixed. Maybe, you might have just simply left an amount out. Let’s have a look at what you should do, in order to crack these codes correctly – in that way making filing much more easier for you.
You’ll need to check your IRP5 to make sure you answered TaxTim's questions for these amounts correctly. Your IRP5 can show one or more amounts with source codes describing the income you received from your employer that year. ...
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SARS charges interest on late payments made toward provisional tax deadlines.
To calculate this late payment penalty, use the formula below:
Provisional tax amount x 7% x (days after deadline / 365)
Use the calculator below:
Completion Letter
You will receive a Completion Letter if all goes well and SARS is happy with your documents. This means that SARS is not adjusting your Original Assessment and if you have a refund due, it should be paid out in 7 working days (provided you have no tax debt due or outstanding tax returns from prior years). Similarly, if you owe tax to SARS per your Original Assessment, the amount you owe will remain unchanged.
Hundreds of thousands of South Africans are filing their annual tax returns and everyday people ask us “when will I get my refund from SARS?”.
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If you’re an individual non-provisional taxpayer, make sure you file your tax return before or on the deadline of 2 December 2021.
SARS is warning that those who fail to submit on time, will face penalties. Legislation has changed and you will have to pay penalties in January 2022 if you have not submitted one or more of your returns. This means that if you file your 2021 return after the deadline, SARS will levy an admin penalty.
Before, you only paid penalties when two...
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Identity fraud happens when someone uses your personal information, such as your name and identity number, without your permission.
Criminals steal your identifying information from your home, car or wallet and even your rubbish bins and use your details to commit crime. Con artists can also get your personal and confidential information from the internet, social networking sites, emails, spoofed websites, Short Message Services (SMS) and unsolicited telephone calls.
It’...
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Earlier this year, SARS reached out to cryptocurrency platforms to access their lists of clients and information in its bid to clamp down on the wealthy.
Many South Africans have been misinformed and are under the impression that crypto-activity is under the radar. Some believe it is untraceable or that it only needs to be declared to SARS when it is traded. This is incorrect as all individuals who have bought and held crypto assets during the tax year must disclose these holdings to ...
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These tips are part of TaxTim's personalised recommendation tool called the Tax Health Score. Once you file your tax return with TaxTim,
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This is good news! A Reduced Assessment means you owe LESS tax. i.e SARS has assessed your taxable income to be a lower or reduced amount compared to their Original Assessment.
The Reduced Assessment can be confusing to taxpayers who think they need to pay the amount on it. However, it’s important to realise the amount on this assessment must not be viewed in isolation. It must be added to the Original Assessment and the OVERALL balance is the amount t...
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Like in previous years, there have always been opening tax season niggles and 2021 has been no different. Patience is a virtue, so the adage goes.
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The Momentum HealthSaver is a savings account which works with your medical aid and allows you to save for additional medical costs which are not covered by your medical aid.
When it comes to filing your annual tax return, there seems to be some confusion around how your monthly payments to the HealthSaver, as well as medical costs paid from the HealthSaver, are treated for tax purposes.
Momentum Tax Certificates
It is important to point ou...
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In the past SARS needed to prove that a taxpayer had committed a tax crime “willfully and without just cause” but the legislation has just been changed. The court can now find you guilty of a tax crime even in cases of negligence or even in a case where the taxpayer may have made a mistake.
The amended law separates non-compliance into two groups: the first is where the taxpayer’s intention is not considered, and the other group is where the taxpayer’s intentio...
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If SARS have issued you an Auto Assessment, you will need to follow these steps to reject it so that we can help you to complete and submit your return to SARS.
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When we finally decide to complete our tax return, the last thing we want is a delay in finding that last piece of missing information. In case your bank or investment fund hasn't sent you your IT3b tax certificate by mail or email earlier in the year, here are the fastest ways to download your tax certificate online in record time.
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Good news if you’ve been working from home for the past year. You can claim a tax deduction if you worked from home for more than half of your total working hours or for more than six months during the tax year that started in March 2020.
“Claim for your home office if you started working from home at the end of March, and worked there for at least 6 months till the end of February 2021, to deduct this benefit in the tax ...
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In these ever-changing times, many South Africans working abroad have found themselves working back in their home country. Although this may not have been their first choice, SARS is tightening its hold on foreign income earners, and the tax authority will be diving deeper into expat taxes, but what does that mean and how will that affect your taxes this year? Here’s what you need to know.
Usually, in the case where Saffas were working and earning an income in a foreign country,...
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In the national budget speech this year, finance minister, Tito Mboweni announced the initiation of a new unit within SARS dedicated to improving tax compliance from wealthy South Africans. In accordance with Mboweni´s plans for tax revenue collection, SARS has recently updated its vacancies page
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Do you receive a travel allowance from your employer because your job used to entail significant travel? As the Covid-19 pandemic hit and lockdown restrictions have curbed travel, you might be wondering how this will affect your taxes. Here’s what you need to know to avoid owing the taxman, even more, this tax season.
Under normal circumstances, your employer would only offer you a travel allowance if your job requi...
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By Stella Pickard - Quickwill
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” - ANON
More than 70% of South Africans don’t have a valid will. The reason for this, we believe, is because people are not educated on why wills are so important and how you can use them to protect your family and save tax.
By drafting a will, you are planting a tree in which shade your f...
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We are seeing many cases where taxpayers submit their documents to SARS, wait 21 working days (sometimes longer) only to receive a second letter on eFiling which requests the exact same documents again.
The letter we are referring to here is the generic SARS document request which looks like the below:
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) thanks you for submitting the revised income tax return for the 2018 tax period.
The revised information still does not match the information in the possession of the SARS and/or the income tax return has been identified for verification in terms of the Tax Administration Act....
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Companies issue stock options (also called share options) to key employees in order to attract and retain talent.
A stock option is different from a share – a stock option is the right to acquire a share at a specific date in the future at a set price.
For example, when John joins Company A, he is granted 5000 stock options at a price of R55 per stock option. Assume that Company A’s share price rises to R75, he will make a profit of R20 per option when he is allowe...
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