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Old Tax Returns

  Written by Neo  

SARS owes me money from a tax return which I recently submitted with the help of TaxTim. They have come back to say that I need to file my old tax returns from the year 2016 and 2017, but I was not working during those two years and I also never filed any tax returns during those two years. I am not so sure about what should I do now regarding this matter?

Top Questions on Provisional Tax

  Written by Neo  


With the first provisional return still fresh in the minds of taxpayers, we thought it would be a good time to highlight some questions that were asked to our Helpdesk last month.

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Return Status ‘Filed through Branch’ " What Does This Mean?

  Written by Neo  

We’ve recently received many questions from taxpayers asking us if we physically went into a SARS office to submit their returns manually.

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Corrected IRP5

  Written by Neo  

My employer had to fix the tax period on my IRP5 and it has now been resubmitted to SARS. I would like to know if I am able to get TaxTim to reload this new IRP5 document for me? Also, please note that there are some amount changes as well which were made and this needs to reflect before I can agree to submit the final details. Is there perhaps a process whereby TaxTim can import the IRP5 before commencing to the submission state?

Tax on living annuity

  Written by Neo  

What type of a taxpayer am I if I receive a living annuity and I am 42 years old? My monthly living annuity income is just over R10000, I also receive money from my children's investments which ranges between R1000 and R8000.

Making payments to SARS

  Written by Neo  


You have filed all your outstanding tax returns with SARS and when receiving your ITA34 assessment/ Statement of Account/ Penalty statement you notice that you owe SARS some tax. There are three main options available to you, if you want to make a payment to SARS.

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Tax helpdesk assistant interview

  Written by Evan  

Answer Tim's questions above to see if you have what it takes to work with the TaxTim team!

IT3(f)

  Written by Nicci  

An IT3(f) is a Tax Certificate received from a financial services institution. It is a summary of the details of your contribution to a Retirement Annuity Fund made for the year. Note, this is not the same as a Pension or Provident Fund. It is specifically for a Retirement Annuity Fund only.

REIT

  Written by Nicci  

A REIT stands for  Real Estate Investment Trust. This is a listed property investment vehicle. Distributions from REITs must be included in the taxpayer's taxable income and will be taxed per their marginal tax rate.

Claiming retirement

  Written by Neo  

I am confused and I need some clarity regarding money I am contributing into a pension fund. I am making monthly contributions into someone else%u2019s pension fund. I was wondering whether I can deduct my contributions from my income for tax purposes. Can I claim these contributions back? I am not certain whether this is doable and would appreciate your help.

SONA 2019 - A Short Summary

  Written by Patrick  

On 20 June 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the sixth parliament, and for the first time in years, we witnessed an uninterrupted SONA. And that is not the only first. For the first time, the SONA cost almost R2m, a staggering 47% lower than the cost of SONA 2018 and the lowest in five years.

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SARS has done a ‘simulated calculation’ for me " what does this mean?

  Written by Neo  


You may have heard the recent announcement from SARS that certain taxpayers who earn less than R500 000 per year don’t need to submit a tax return. However, this only applies under very specific conditions so it is extremely important to understand these fully if you think you may be affected. You can read all about this rule here.

This year SARS are taking things one step further. They ...



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How to claim medical aid costs for a family member

  Written by Neo  


At TaxTim we receive many questions from taxpayers who pay medical aid for dependent family members and who want to know if they can claim for this in their tax return.

When paying medical aid contributions for a ‘financial dependent’ the medical scheme fees tax credit applies in respect of fees paid by the person to a medical scheme.  This means that the person who is paying the medical aid will receive the medical tax credits, and not the dependent/member of the medical aid. 

Who is a ‘dependent’?...



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Senior PHP developer interview

  Written by Evan  

Answer Tim's questions above to see if you have what it takes to work with the TaxTim team!

Why is SARS requesting my supporting documents again?

  Written by Neo  


TaxTim is seeing cases where taxpayers who had already submitted their documents in early July to SARS are, around ten days to two weeks later, receiving a further two letters from SARS requesting documents again. The one letter is the generic letter with the long list of documents, which was originally issued, while the second, contains a more specific request relating to the taxpayer’s tax return. 

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What should I do if I have no assessment from SARS after having filed a return?

  Written by Marc  

Usually SARS issued an immediate assessment, however sometimes they do need to do a further manual check on their side. Often the reason for this is one of the following:

  • They are missing an IRP5/IT3a due to you having transferred a lumpsum between any retirement funds. For example if you changed jobs during the year or withdrew your lumpsum from a Pension/Provident or Retirement Annuity Fund then you should have been issued an IRP5/IT3a;

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    IRP3(e)

      Written by Nicci  

    An IRP3(e) is a tax directive from SARS to instruct an employer, a fund or a commission earner the tax amount that they should deduct from either a lump sum or commission income that an employee might be due to receive.


    Provisional Tax on Rental Income

      Written by Neo  

    My wife and I are South African and we are currently based in East Asia. I work here as a teacher and my wife is not employed. We are married in community of property. So, back at home in Durban, we own two properties, one is residential and the other an office space. We receive rental income of about R6000 and R7500 respectively. Both properties are mortgaged and they are part of a sectional title scheme. Should we register as provisional taxpayers and how would we go about doing this?

    Top questions on Commission Earners

      Written by Neo  


    Our helpdesk receives hundreds of questions from commission earners about how their tax is calculated. Many are also confused about which expenses they can claim.  Hopefully our FAQ will help other taxpayers who might be puzzling over the same issues.

    1. I have a salary and earn a small commission; can I claim for my travel to and from work every day? (The commission is based on the sales that my team makes telephonically per month).

    Should the commiss...



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    Submitting a tax return and foreign income

      Written by Neo  

    I have been living abroad for a while, since February 2018 to be exact. I filed my tax return for the 2017/2018 financial year, as it reflected my income for the previous year, during which I was employed in South Africa. I would like to maintain an unbroken record with SARS, but I'm not sure how to file for income earned abroad. My current income is well below the R1 million limit impostor in South Africans working abroad. I will be tax returning to SA in March 2019. So, I would like to know wh...



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    Earnings of a teacher and tax

      Written by Neo  

    I would like to find out if I should submit a tax return as a teacher that earns R300 000 per annum. Would this be required of me?

    Clarifying the tax return threshold set by SARS

      Written by Neo  


    You may have seen the latest announcement by the SARS commissioner to increase the qualifying threshold for certain taxpayers to submit a tax return from R350 000 to R500 000.

    However as with all previous years, this only applies to certain taxpayers and so it is very important to check if you are one of these.

    The threshold applies to you only if you meet ALL of the criteria below:

    • You have worked for a full 12 months for ONE employer only and received an IRP5;...


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    Top Questions on tax seasons

      Written by Nicci  


    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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    Foreign Asset Codes

      Written by Nicci  

    Choose the correct code from the table below: 



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    How to lodge a complaint with SARS

      Written by Neo  


    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...



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