Do your Tax with TaxTim and WIN R10,000  More info   T&C's apply

Latest Posts in TaxTim's Blog

Tax Free Savings Accounts: Everything You Need to Know



As a nation, South Africa does rather poorly on the savings front. With the majority living near or below the breadline, there’s not much to save when you’re more concerned with just getting through the month. Our high levels of consumer-debt, combined with little in the way of personal savings, means we become financial burdens on the government in the long-run...

Read more →

Do You Need to Ring-Fence Your Business or Rental Losses for Tax?



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

Read more →

Food for Thought on Subsistence Allowances



You’ve been up since 4am in order to catch yet another red-eye flight for a 9am business meeting - 1,400km away - and you’re already onto your third coffee by the time you board the plane.

Read more →

I forgot to submit some documents to SARS - what must I do now?




If you left out some documents in your original submission to SARS, don’t panic.

SARS has recently implemented a new process

Read more →

Capital Gains and Losses: which source codes to use?



In the Capital Gains section of the annual tax return (ITR12), SARS requires you to insert the relevant asset source code for the item you have sold.  However, when you sell financial investments (e.g shares)  the financial institution issues an IT3(c) which shows the profit/loss source code (i.e4250/4251) and not the asset source code.  This causes confusion for taxpayers, who think th...

Read more →

How to add your Company Tax Number to your eFiling profile



As part of SARS’ mission to simplify the eFiling system, the Tax Type Transfer process was updated in 2020 for all Tax products in a bid to offer users complete control of their eFiling profiles. 

What's new on eFiling?

 Overall, you can expect to see the following key changes introduced to eFiling from the end of April 2021: 

  • Changes to adding taxpayers to a profile (Organisations, Practitioners & individuals)
  • The removal of multiple capture fields to simplify the process
  • Validation requirements for captured information to ensure alignment to SARS records, e.g...


Read more →

Budget 2024: No Major Tax Hikes



South Africans were bracing themselves for bad news when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered his budget speech yesterday. However, in line with expectations during an election year, he delivered the reassuring news that there would be no significant tax hikes, no VAT increase, and no introduction of a new wealth tax. Contrary to earlier speculation, the medical tax rebate is also set to stay for a while longer.

However, this positive news is not without consequences. As South ...

Read more →

WIN up to R10,000 with TaxTim in 2024




TaxTim has TWO exciting competitions in 2024!

COMPETITION 1: Win R10,000 in cash by filing your tax return with TaxTim

How to enter:

Read more →

Navigating around your Medical Aid Tax Certificate



If you belong to a Medical Aid, there is important information on your medical aid tax certificate which needs to be included in your tax return.

This will ensure you receive the medical aid tax credit that is due to you.

Do you belong to any of the below medical aids?


- Bankmed
- Bonitas...

Read more →

What to do if your tax return was rejected by SARS



If you've received a letter from SARS saying that your tax return has been rejected and you're not sure why, there could be a few reasons why this has happened. Here are some of the most common reasons, along with the corrective steps you need to take:

Reason 1: You were auto-assessed by SARS for the 2020, 2021 or 2022 tax year, but you submitted your tax return after the 40-day period SARS gave you, and you failed to request an extension in time. Please click here to read more about auto-assessments. ...


Read more →

What is Beneficial Ownership?



The CIPC recently (1 April 2023) implemented a new register called the Beneficial Ownership (BO) register in an attempt to establish who owns or exercise control over which companies.

In layman’s terms, BO in respect of a company means, an individual who, directly or indirectly, ultimately owns that company or exercises effective control over that company for tax or financial purposes.

This new register is to assist law enforcement with relevant information when it comes...

Read more →

Why does SARS require manual intervention to finalise my return?




When a Tax Return is filed usually SARS issues an immediate assessment (ITA34), however sometimes they do need to do a further manual check on their side.

Read more →

TaxTim Refund Policy Explained



Each time SARS makes changes on eFiling or with their standard operating procedures, TaxTim has to adjust its systems and processes. We usually receive no warning of these technical changes. During this time, some of our users might feel a need to abandon our service and either seek help elsewhere or go and queue at SARS. 

We understand this may cause frustration, however we will not refund you in cases where you have worked your way through every section of the TaxTim dialogue a...

Read more →

How do I know if I was auto-assessed?



During the tax year, SARS issued SMS's to taxpayer whom they chose to auto-assess.

Those selected individuals would typically be taxpayers earning fixed salaries without additional allowances. If they did have medical aid and retirement annuity fund contributions, these details would have already been sent to SARS by their service providers, and SARS should have automatically included them in the assessment.

We've received many questions on our help desk where users say that t...

Read more →

Income Tax Return Verifications and Audits



It is important to note that verifications and audits are two different processes. In a simple explanation, verification is the "straightforward" process to confirm if the information you declared on your tax return is true and correct, whilst an audit is where the tax return is under deeper investigation which means they look at the finer details. 

Supporting documents request

If SARS decides to review your tax return, they will notify you via a SARS let...

Read more →

The Deduction of Home Office Expenditure




Nowadays, work culture has evolved massively and “Flexible employment” has become the new buzzword. This is especially relevant at the moment, where many employees are still working from home due to the global Corona virus outbreak of 2020.

Read more →

FAQ: Home Office Expenses




Flexible employment is becoming increasingly popular, many taxpayers spend some (or all) of their time working from home. If certain conditions are met, taxpayers are allowed to claim a portion of their office running costs as a tax deduction on their tax return. However, please note that SARS usually flags these returns for audit. If you do work from home, take a read of our home office blog and also check out our handy decision tree to make 100% sure you are claiming this expense correctly.

Read more →

How to Submit a Request for Reduced Assessment via SARS eFiling



If your 2023 individual income tax return was auto-assessed by SARS earlier this year, and you intended to include extra income or expenses/ deductions but missed the deadline, don't be dismayed, there might still be a way to fix things!

Is SARS rejecting your tax return submission and your dispute too?

Have you requested an extension, but SARS granted it for a day before they replied to you? i.e, you asked for an extension till 10 November 2023, but SARS gave you an extension...

Read more →

Is My Life Insurance Claim Taxed in South Africa?



A pressing concern for many South Africans is whether or not the taxman gets a chunk of the money when the life insurance policy pays out. It’s a big stress factor to wonder how big the tax portion will be and how much will be left over for your family especially in a time when they need it the most. But here's some good news as of 2023: life insurance payouts usually don't get taxed. That means your loved ones get to keep the whole amount, giving everyone a bit of comfort.

&nbs...

Read more →

Tax-Efficient Wealth Protection: Understanding Life Insurance with TaxTim



While it might seem like a morbid topic at first, understanding life insurance is pretty important to safeguarding your family's financial future. Life insurance is about more than just providing for your loved ones after you're no longer around, it is the cornerstone of financial stability during hard times like illness or disability as it protects your income. Think of it as a protective bubble that will ensure your family's financial well-being, no matter what life throws your way.


Read more →

How Does Tax Work on a Life Insurance Policy in South Africa



Delving into tax laws and understanding their impact on life insurance doesn’t have to be headache. At TaxTim, we're here to simplify the world of tax and ensure you stay informed about the key tax implications when it comes to your life insurance. Without diving into too much detail, let's get straight to the point and focus on what you really need to know about the tax implications on your life insurance premiums.

First off, it's essential to know that life insurance premiums ...

Read more →

Recent updates to the Company Tax Return (ITR14)



The updated ITR14 on eFiling has some new sections, and one that often raises questions is the part about share classes. Although it might seem confusing, it's actually quite simple. SARS is just asking you to tell them more about your shareholders in the company.

When you begin your ITR14, please have the balance sheet, income statement, and also the share register ready. A share register is  is a list of all active and former owners of a company's shares. To complete the capita...

Read more →

Here is the process to follow if you have a dormant company



It seems that dormant companies are on SARS' radar.

If you registered a company with CIPC some time ago and forgot about it, that company could land you in hot water with SARS. Read more to find out what the financial repercussions could be and why you should get a hold on the situation.

What is a dormant company?

A dormant company is classified as a company that has not actively traded for the full year of assessment.  Because there is no activity in the compan...

Read more →

How to set up a payment arrangement with SARS



With the end of the tax year looming, SARS tax collectors are on high alert to collect taxes and meet their revenue targets.

If you owe SARS, you should be receiving constant reminders to pay your debt. This may be in the form of SMS's, phone calls or even posted letters.

If the debt is unfamiliar or if you are not in agreement with the debt, you can File a dispute with SARS , howe...

Read more →

Track your tax return on the SARS website



SARS have recently introduced a new way to track your tax return online via the SARS website.

See TaxTim's step-by-step guide to help you nagivate this new process:

1. Please go to the SARS website www.sars.gov.za click on "Contact Us" 

2. Scroll down the page then click o...

Read more →

Older posts →← Newer posts    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14

Submit your tax return right here!

TaxTim will help you:

 Do Your Tax Return Easily
 Avoid penalties
 Maximise your refund

Tim uses your answers to complete your income tax return instantly and professionally, with everything filled in in the right place.

Let Tim submit your tax return direct to SARS in just a few clicks!

Get started

Blog Categories


Ask TaxTim

Got a question you want answered about tax?

Visit our helpdesk

Get SARS Tax Deadlines in your Inbox
We'll tell you when you need to file, along with tax tips and updates.