Written by Nicci
Updated 24 April 2025
COMPANY LETTERHEAD
Date
Employee's Full Name
Address
To Whom It May Concern,
Subject: Confirmation of foreign employment
This letter serves to confirm that____________________________(Name of employee) _______________________(ID number) is employed by __________________________(company name) in the capacity of__________________________(position).
He/she is contracted to work overseas in _______________ (country) from ______________dd/mm/yy to ________________dd/mm/yy. ...
Written by Nicci
Posted 24 April 2025
There is a section on the ITR12 tax return that asks you to indicate any periods during the tax year when you were not working (i.e., were unemployed).
This section applies only to South African tax residents who are salaried employees and receive an IRP5.
...
Written by Alicia
Posted 24 April 2025
Written by Alicia
Posted 24 April 2025
Written by Nicci
Updated 23 April 2025
1. How many returns should I file each year if I am a provisional taxpayer?
You are required to file 3 returns i.e. 2 provisional tax returns (IRP6s) and one annual return (ITR12). The reason you need to file the annual return, too, is that your provisional returns are based on an estimate of your taxable income, while the annual return reflects your actual taxable income. Any provisional payments you have made for the year will be deducted from your final tax liability, which is calculated when you submit your annual tax return for assessment.
2...
Written by Alicia
Updated 22 April 2025
Provisional tax can be confusing, especially when it comes to the timing of payments. If you miss the first payment, do you need to catch it up, or can you just pay the second one? And what happens if you become a provisional taxpayer halfway through the year - are you still expected to file a first provisional tax return? In this post, we’ll attempt to clear up the confusion around first and second provisional tax payments.
Brief summary
Written by Alicia
Updated 22 April 2025
TaxTim uses the financial information which you entered to work out the payment due on your provisional tax return (also called an IRP6). However, there may be some information we don’t have access to, which won’t be included in the estimate of your provisional tax payment. To see what SARS has on record, you will need to request a Provisio...
Written by Alicia
Updated 22 April 2025
During the final days of the provisional tax season, high traffic volumes may cause delays in submitting provisional tax returns to SARS—even after you've clicked 'submit' on our website.
To avoid late payment penalties, we recommend paying the estimated provisional tax amount shown on our website. Once your provisional tax return (IRP6) appears in eFiling and your SARS provisional Statement o...
Written by Elani
Updated 22 April 2025
You can Register yourself for provisional tax in a few quick steps on your eFiling profile:
STEP 1: Get Started by logging in on eFiling
Go to www.sarsefiling.co.za
Type in your unique username and password – you will have decided on these when you registered for eFiling.
Didn’t register yet to eFile? Please refer to our
Written by Patrick
Updated 22 April 2025
If you earn income from renting out a property, or even subletting a room in your home, you need to pay tax on it...
Written by Nicci
Updated 16 April 2025
Surely most of us love to travel, but traveling for business purposes is no fun when it comes to completing your tax return.
SARS has some rather onerous requirements, but as long as you know what you need, submitting your documents to SARS should be plain sailing.
Read more →
Written by Nicci
Updated 16 April 2025
Travel expenses and their tax impact are a complex issue for many. It’s no surprise that it’s a common theme on our Helpdesk.
Read more →
Written by Nicci
Updated 15 April 2025
Consult the image below to find all the tax-related information on your IRP5 that you will need when completing your annual tax return.
Written by Nicci
Posted 14 April 2025
Written by Vee
Updated 10 April 2025
Medical expenses are nothing to sneeze at. Private medical treatment is increasingly pushing the limits of medical aid scheme
Read more →
Written by Elani
Posted 2 April 2025
Unfortunately, some of the SARS documents cannot be viewed online (i.e. from within your internet browser). You can work around this issue by downloading the SARS document to your computer. You will then be able to view the document when opening it directly on your device.
Steps to follow if the SARS document is blank on your browser:
Written by Evan
Updated 1 April 2025
Filing your tax return conveniently online requires a working SARS eFiling profile (even if you are using TaxTim). A prerequisite for this is that SARS has your latest correct banking details stored in the SARS eFiling system.
NB: Make sure your bank details are updated under Maintain SARS Registered Details (RAV01). Updating them only on your tax return does not change or override the details on the RAV01.
To check your SARS maintained banking details:...
Written by Evan
Updated 31 March 2025
Wear and Tear or Depreciation is the decrease in value of an asset. SARS allows you to deduct this decrease each year, which you can then use towards replacing those assets if you wish. Different types of asset have different write-off periods.
For example, if you use your laptop for work and it cost R12,000 in the 2023 tax year, you can depreciate the laptop by R4,000 each year, for 3 years total, until 2025 and claim the R4,000 as a deduction, therefore paying less tax! Note, however that SARS will probably ask for a letter from your employer confirming that this was allowed....
Written by Alicia
Posted 27 March 2025
When you retire, you’ll have a few options for how to access your retirement savings. You can take up to one-third of the total amount as a cash lump sum — this is called the "savings portion." The remaining two-thirds, called the "retirement portion," must be used to buy an income product, like a living annuity or a life annuity, which will pay you a monthly income.
You can choose how the two...
Written by Nicci
Updated 27 March 2025
As most of us know by now, cryptocurrency is not real but virtual money.
Read more →
Written by Alicia
Posted 27 March 2025
If you're a provisional taxpayer, you can request a statement of your provisional account on eFiling. However, instead of finding it on your Income Tax workpage, you first need to go to the Provisional Tax workpage. This can be tricky if you don't use eFiling often, so we've listed the steps below to help you.
STEP 1: Log into SARS eFiling
Written by Nicci
Updated 14 March 2025
Training and development for employees plays a vital role in the growth and success of your business. But, finding affordable and correct tools might be where the concerns start creeping in. Suddenly you’re left thinking… “They’ll learn on the job. Resources are limited.”
Fortunately, you’d be pleased to know that the learnership allowance is intended to be an incentive for employers to encourage skills development within their workforce, with the hope to create jobs and economic growth....
Written by Nicci
Updated 12 March 2025
Have you recently received a present or a donation from a wealthy family member or a friend? Or, maybe you've just donated money to support a child in need?
Read more →
Written by Vee
Updated 12 March 2025
Have you been the lucky recipient of a gift or donation from a generous family member or friend? Perhaps they struck it lucky on the Lotto and decided to share their winnings with you!
Or maybe you're the giving type and have donated cash, shares or even property to someone you felt deserved a little boost.
Irrespective of whether you're the giver or receiver of a donation or gift, it's good to understand donations from a tax perspective, and how to declare these to SARS.
Ready to find out?
Let's get started.
Read more →
Written by Patrick
Updated 11 March 2025
