By now you would have seen the latest announcement by the SARS commissioner to increase the qualifying threshold for certain taxpayers
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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.
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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.
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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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Below we take a look at Capital Gains Tax, particularly relating to the primary residence exclusion. What we’ve covered are some of the most pressing questions asked by our users on our help-desk. Take a few minutes to read the Q&As. Hopefully what has been unpacked in these Q&As will benefit and assist you with any uncertainties you might have experienced regarding this topic.
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It's always wonderful to win a prize or a competition – however, many people don’t realise there may be tax consequences attached.
This week we thought it would be helpful to remind you what to look out for, should you be the lucky recipient of one of the below:
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We receive many relevant questions from our users about what they can claim as a tax deduction if they or one of their dependants suffers from a disability. This week, we will focus on this issue and hopefully help other taxpayers out there who may have the same questions.
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If you own a rental property, then this week’s top questions are specifically for you! Read on to find out more.
1. We paid off our home loan 5 years ago - nil balance due. However, we will have the loan available to borrow from as the term of the loan is not complete (we still have 90 months left).
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Read on to see this week’s top five burning questions received to our Helpdesk this past week. Hopefully this helps you too as we once again shed light on some common tax issues.
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In 2017, National Treasury announced that there would be changes to the Foreign Employment income Exemption. These changes were intended to target those South Africans working overseas on expat contracts, who had not formally emigrated and were intending to return ‘home’ to SA at a later stage. The proposed amendments would have seen South Africans working overseas in lo...
Mr Minister, you did a fine balancing act on this year’s budget; short-term pain for long-term gain.
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Once again we bring you our top five most-asked questions we’ve received to our Helpdesk this past week. Hopefully this may help others who have been puzzling over the same issues.
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Budget 2019: TaxTim’s predictions
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will be in the spotlight next week when he delivers his maiden budget speech on Wednesday, 20 February to the nation.
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We have been contacted by many concerned taxpayers who have received SMS’s from SARS demanding urgent settlement of their tax debt in order to avoid legal action.
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If you run a business or rental property, which is running at a loss, don’t offset this loss against other taxable income you may have when calculating your estimated taxable income for your provisional return.
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We have identified the top five most-asked questions from our users on our TaxTim help-desk this past week. Take a look below to see what has been confusing taxpayers the most.
The provisional tax return for the 2019 second period, which covers your income from 1 March 2018 to 28 February 2019, is due on Thursday the 28th of February 2019. Try to submit your return and make ...
It's that time of the year again - Black Friday!
We'd like to assume that you've probably been inundated with nothing but sale specials in your inbox . While others have managed to plan ahead to ensure a pleasant shopping experience, other consumers will shop wildly and randomly during this highly anticipated sale bonanza. With so little time to spare we've put together 3 important things to remember this Black Friday:
1. Compare your options
Sometimes brand loyalism should be left at home...
We’ve put together a few FAQs which have come from many of our users. These questions vary from the filing process on TaxTim as well as the generic tax questions which can often be quite unclear. With the tax filing season deadline being just around the corner, we’d like to ensure you’ve got the correct information and tools to help you navigate your way around the processes. Knowing exactly what to do when it comes to your taxes during this final stretch. After all, according to SARS, filing a tax return is your responsibility and not your employers'....
With the tax season shortened this year by 3 weeks, the deadline to file by 31 October is just around the corner. SARS announced that it will be clamping down on taxpayers who miss the deadline to submit their tax return. Besides stating that they will impose monthly fines for late tax returns, they have even gone so far as threatening criminal prosecution and time behind bars for unpaid tax debt, just as many of us have witnessed with the recent celebrity headlines....
We receive many queries from confused taxpayers who are disappointed to see their tax refunds are smaller than the refund received last year.
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TaxTim, which helps you to complete and file your tax returns online with the help of a digital tax expert called Tim, now offers a personalised tax health score report free which could help users pay less tax.
The score is the result of an in depth automated analysis of an individual’s tax return. It makes recommendations on how to improve tax health for maximum tax efficiency.
“For the first time, taxpayers will have a report card reflecting where they can improve their tax affairs and maximise efficiency...