I have received an Additional Assessment from SARS - what does this mean?
Posted 23 October 2018
After you have submitted your supporting documents to SARS, they have 21 working days to review them, assuming all sufficient documents have been received. Once their review is complete, you will either:
- Receive a request for additional documents; or
- Receive a Completion Letter; or,
- Receive an Additional Assessment
Additional Documents Request
If SARS still requires for documents from you, they will either send ...
Read more →
How to Change/Verify Your Bank Details at SARS
Posted 22 October 2018
SARS has recently issued a new guide with regards to updating your banking details with them. This was done in order to reduce the risk of refunds being paid into the wrong accounts and also to streamline the process, which has tended to be an onerous one in the past.
Change of bank details can be done:
- in person at a SARS branch (SARS still prefers this way)
- via eFiling (Go to Maintain Taxpayer Registered Particulars Menu) Note, you will still need t...
Read more →
FAQs on TaxTim
Posted 11 October 2018
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'....
Read more →
File by 31 October or face heavy fines and potential legal action!
Posted 11 October 2018
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.
Their ominous slogan “pay your taxes or pay the price” is still in use, with the hope to encourage taxpayers to file their returns on time...
Read more →
Do You Need to Ring-Fence Your Business or Rental Losses for Tax?
Posted 10 October 2018
When pursuing a business activity, trade or renting out a property, you’re no doubt doing so to make some money, but the reality for self-starters is that there’s a good chance it’s going to take some time for your venture to break even, which can often mean facing a loss.
Your additional income is of interest to SARS as it translates into more tax revenue for them, so how do you record your loss to them? And when, how and where is the loss applied from a tax perspective?
Read more →
Why is SARS asking me for outstanding tax returns?
Posted 9 October 2018
When did this happen?
Previously, assuming that SARS did not request any documents for verification and everything for the year was accepted, refunds due were typically paid out quite quickly to taxpayers within 1-2 days.
From 2015, SARS has implemented a new requirement that ALL tax returns, since the first year a taxpayer registered for a tax reference number, must be submitted before any refund is paid out.
...
Read more →
After all my documents submissions to SARS, they disallowed my expenses, why?
Posted 4 October 2018
We are starting to see some common trends whereby taxpayers’ expenses are disallowed because the documents submitted are falling short of SARS’s requirements. To avoid unnecessary frustration and time wasted in raising disputes, read on to see if any of these areas apply to you.
Travel deduction
In prior years, the submission of a logbook detailing your business mileage used to be sufficient to justify your travel claim. This year, SARS is re...
Read more →
Some common (and sometimes forgotten) tax deductions
Posted 25 September 2018
Many times taxpayers rush when filing their tax return then they miss out on some expenses they are eligible to claim. Don’t overpay tax by overlooking these seven common tax deductions.
Contributions towards a Retirement Annuity
Your contributions towards retirement funds are deductible for tax up to a limit of 27,5% of the greater of your taxable income or remuneration (to a maximum of R350,000 per year). This limit applies to the total contributions you make to any Pension, Provident or Retirement Annuity (RA) fund during the year...
Read more →
Why must I submit an IRP5/IT3a if I never received any lump sum cash?
Posted 21 September 2018
We receive many questions from taxpayers who are confused as to why they receive an IRP5/IT3a for retirement fund withdrawals or transfers and how to report this (if at all) in their tax return. If this applies to you, read on and let us clarify the issue for you.
IRP5/IT3a for retirement fund withdrawal, resignation or transfer
If you withdraw money or retire from your retirement fund and receive a lumpsum, the fund will have to apply for a tax directive for you and should also issue you an IRP5/IT3a...
Read more →
5 Reasons you Still Need to File your Tax Return in 2018
Posted 4 September 2018
SARS, once again, has communicated that if you earn less than R350,000 in a year, and fulfil a series of complicated criteria, you may not have to file a tax return in 2018.
However, we advise you to take GREAT CARE here, and understand your duties properly, because if you don't, you may suffer for it later on.
Here are the top 5 reasons why not to skip filing your tax return this season:
Read more →
Tax Breaks For All
Posted 31 July 2018
What?
1.Rebates
Who?
Everybody
Primary, secondary, and tertiary rebates – depending on your age. A rebate is a set amount that SARS whacks off your total tax liability and basically represents the amount excluded by the minimum threshold to pay tax.
Primary rebate is for those under 65 years of age (on the last day of the tax year), the secondary rebate applies to those between 65 and 75 years old, and the tertiary rebate is added for those over 75 years old...
Read more →
Why have I received a smaller tax refund from SARS this year?
Posted 24 July 2018
We receive many queries from confused taxpayers who are disappointed to see their tax refunds are smaller than the refund received last year. Often, on the surface, their income and expense situation appears unchanged, so how can this be?
If you are one of these unhappy taxpayers, read on to see some common reasons why your tax refund could be less than last year.
Carried forward retirement contributions
This one is not obvious at all and confuses many taxpayers...
Read more →
How Long do I have to wait for my tax refund?
Posted 12 July 2018
Like in previous years, there have always been opening tax season niggles and 2018 has been no different. Patience is a virtue, so the adage goes. And when it comes to waiting for responses from most government departments, they can certainly put your skills of tolerance to the test. Our helpdesk is inundated with questions about how long SARS will take to react or respond to certain requests or submissions. The short answer is ‘typically, quite a while’. You can imagine that during their busy filing season there are hundreds of thousands of documents being processed and not all administration can be automated...
Read more →
Medical Aid Tax! How SARS' new changes affect YOU!
Posted 8 July 2018
In 2012 SARS began making changes to how medical expenses were treated for tax purposes. The system at that time created a higher benefit for deducted medical expenses if you earned a high income (bad news for low income earners) and the changes since then have sought to make medical deductions more equal across various income levels.
Basic summary of how SARS calculates your tax
Income Earned
Less: Expenses / Deductions
= Taxable Income
x SARS tax rate ...
Read more →
When Will SARS Pay My Tax Refund?
Posted 6 July 2018
Now that the 2018 tax season is open and hundreds of thousands of South Africans are filing their annual tax returns, every day people ask us “when will I get my refund from SARS?”.
While we’re not involved in the payments of tax refunds, we can provide a little insight into the SARS processes and timelines. So here goes …
Read more →
Get your digital tax health score to help you pay less tax
Posted 3 July 2018
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...
Read more →
What to expect in 2018 after submitting your tax return to SARS
Posted 1 July 2018
As soon as
tax season opens in July, many taxpayers rush to submit their
ITR12 tax returns as early as possible, eagerly hoping for a nice refund. After the rush, when nothing happens, they often ask us what is happening to their refund? In most cases where an income tax refund is due to a taxpayer, SARS pays it out within one or two days...
Read more →
Individual Tax Rate Tables
Posted 18 June 2018
RATES OF TAX FOR INDIVIDUALS
2019 tax year (1 March 2018 - 28 February 2019) - see changes from last year
Read more →
How to calculate totals under source codes 3696 and 3699 for 2018
Posted 13 June 2018
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...
Read more →
How to calculate totals under source codes 3696 and 3699 for 2017
Posted 12 June 2018
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. ...
Read more →
How Do Taxpayers Feel About The Proposed New Filing Deadline?
Posted 28 May 2018
On Monday 21st May, TaxTim conducted a simple survey of taxpayers who make use of the TaxTim services about their opinion on SARS’ proposal to shorten the tax filing season by 3 weeks.
An email was sent out containing the following:
“SARS recently published a Draft Notice of who needs to file a tax return and when tax returns will be due for the 2018 tax season. SARS are planning to move the submission deadline 3 weeks earlier to 31st October 2018 for all non-provisional taxpayers. ...
Read more →
What supporting documents do I need to submit to SARS?
Posted 28 May 2018
After submission of your tax return, when you receive your tax assessment (ITA34) from SARS, you need to scan down to the block “Compliance Information” to see if SARS requires anything further from you. You will see “Selected for audit or verification” with a Y or N (Yes or No) next to it. If you have a N, you can breathe a sigh of relief and consider yourself fortunate that SARS probably doesn’t require anything further from you for this tax year. If you have a Y in the block (and we are seeing this more and more frequently) it means that SARS wants to see evidence or back up which supports the amounts you entered on your tax return....
Read more →
The Less Common Tax Deductions
Posted 14 May 2018
We’re aware that sometimes taxpayers may not understand all of the deductions which appear on the tax return. And because of this, expenses that could have been deducted get missed. To help make things easier for you, we’ve explained some of these less understood tax deductions which may be overlooked by taxpayers. They all appear in the Other Deductions section of the ITR12.
The s11(nA) and s11(nB)
If an employee is in breach of an agreement with their employer, they may be asked to pay back a benefit they received from them e.g bonus, maternity leave benefit, bursary, sign on bonus etc. ...
Read more →
I work for someone, but did not receive an IRP5 - what should I do?
Posted 14 May 2018
You may be employed by someone, but for one reason or another- you don't receive an IRP5 and no amount of begging or pleading will result in one being produced. If you're one of these “IRP5-less” individuals, this shouldn’t keep you from completing your tax return.
Below are some situations where taxpayers will not receive an IRP5 - read on to find out if any of these apply to you and if so, what to do about it.
1. You work overseas for a foreign employer.
If you work overseas for a foreign employer and no tax is deducted from your salary in South Africa, you will not receive an IRP5...
Read more →
Be smart and save tax when receiving income from an Air BnB
Posted 14 May 2018
Taxpayers who earn Air BnB income often don’t know what they need to do when it comes to declaring this income to SARS. Sometimes taxpayers think that they don’t have to declare this extra income, or can hide it from SARS by not entering it on their tax return form - a big mistake!
The truth is that extra income earned from Air BnB income is taxable, and SARS needs to know about it. In some cases - if the amount earned (profit) outside of a salary is larger than R30,000 a...
Read more →
Older posts →← Newer posts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Do Your Tax Return Easily