Taxpayers this year are facing a new gripe with SARS when it comes to receiving those well-earned refunds. The current two scenarios are:
In both these cases a refund should be paid out within 72 hours (if the taxpayer is due one), however thousands of taxpayers still have not been paid their refund. Here’s why!...
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In 2024, we have noticed that SARS is withholding refunds from taxpayers with outstanding tax returns, sometimes dating back many years. In some cases, SARS is requesting unfiled returns from as far back as 10-15 years ago, going back to when the taxpayer first registered for a tax number.
Block on eFiling submissions older than 5 years
This year, SARS introduced a change to eFiling that has frustrated many taxpayers. Returns older than five years are now blocked from being submitted on individual profiles, prompting a message that these must be filed at a branch.
Don't worry - TaxTim can help...
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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 72 hours (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.
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.
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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. In recent years howev...
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Last year, we noticed that many taxpayers filed their tax returns before the tax season officially began (i.e July). However, doing so caused delays and problems with their tax refunds.
There are only three specific instances where you can file your tax return (ITR12) directly on eFiling before tax season starts:
This year, SARS has once again ‘auto-assessed’ a large number of taxpayers. They have done this using data that they have received from 3rd parties, such as employers, financial institutions, medical schemes and retirement fund administrators.
If you have been auto-assessed, you should receive an email or SMS from SARS within the first few weeks of July. If your auto-assessment shows that you are due a tax refund, we are seeing SARS pay out these refu...
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In 2020, about 2.2 million jobs were lost in South Africa and in 2021, that number is expected to double as a result of Covid-19. With that, we have found that there are many questions surrounding the subject of taxes and severance packages. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act states that your severance pay should include at least one week’s worth of remuneration for every full year of work. Your severance package may consist of your ...
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Have you found yourself with a huge tax bill at the end of the tax year, and no money to pay it? SARS is making your life easier by changing the way it does tax deductions on your retirement fund from 1 March 2022.
You may receive several annuities or pensions from your previous employer or pension fund. In the past, your fund used to look at each income source separately when working out your tax.
The separate amounts you received probably fell bel...
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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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The Minister delivered some welcome news to South Africans yesterday when he announced that plans to hike taxes by R40 billion rand over the next four years, have been scrapped. This is largely attributed to a surge in tax revenue from mines, as well as a faster than expected recovery in VAT collections towards the end of last year.
He went on further to say, that there would be no significant tax increases at all in the year ahead. Contrary to speculation, the much-anticipated Covid-19 vaccination programme will not be funded by tax hikes...
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As the tax season is approaching, many of our users are asking whether or not they will be due a tax refund.
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Why must I pay tax, I don’t earn enough! Will I get a penalty if I don’t disclose all my income to SARS?
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We receive many questions to our Helpdesk from taxpayers who are faced with the following scenario:
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When SARS has completed their audit, they send a letter called a Verfication of Asssment/Completion Letter. This has the following wording:
VERIFICATION OF ASSESSMENT
We refer to the verification of the assessment for the 20xx tax period. Please note that no adjustment has been made to this assessment. However, in terms of the Tax Administration Act the South African Revenue Service reserves the right to conduct further reviews in ...
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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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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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