Written by Nicci
Posted 11 February 2019
We have identified the top five most-asked questions from our users on our TaxTim help-desk this past week. Take a look below to see what has been confusing taxpayers the most.
The provisional tax return for the 2019 second period, which covers your income from 1 March 2018 to 28 February 2019, is due on Thursday the 28th of February 2019. Try to submit your return and make ...
Written by Nicci
Posted 11 February 2019
Written by Nicci
Posted 9 February 2019
Written by Nicci
Posted 22 November 2018
It's that time of the year again - Black Friday!
We'd like to assume that you've probably been inundated with nothing but sale specials in your inbox . While others have managed to plan ahead to ensure a pleasant shopping experience, other consumers will shop wildly and randomly during this highly anticipated sale bonanza. With so little time to spare we've put together 3 important things to remember this Black Friday:
1. Compare your options
Sometimes brand loyalism should be left at home...
Written by Marc
Posted 23 October 2018
Written by Evan
Posted 12 October 2018
Make sure that all of your documents relate to the tax year you are busy with. Any IRP5s from previous (or future) years do not get entered in the same tax return. The document will usually state the tax year clearly, and the employment dates will fit within the tax year opening and closing dates.
You can not add multiple IRP5 documents together. They need to be entered one by one, one after the other. The sequence is not important....
Written by Nicci
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'....
Written by Nicci
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....
Written by Evan
Posted 27 September 2018
If you started a tax return for the wrong year, please follow the steps below:
1. Login to your TaxTim profile.
2. Click on My Returns in the top menu bar.
3. Click the x button next to the tax return that you do not need any more.
4. Click Start new return to start a new tax return that relates to the year you need.
Please send a message to ou...
Written by Marc
Posted 23 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.
Read more →
Written by Evan
Posted 5 July 2018
You may be using TaxTim to submit your tax return and receive an email back from us saying that your supporting document upload was rejected by SARS due to password protection.
You may also be using SARS eFiling directly and wonder why an error message says "the document can not be converted".
You might be confused because the PDF has no password-protection, or none that you can see when you open up the PDF document in Adobe.
This error occurs most often with IT3b's, bank statements and Retirement Annuity Fund PDFs supplied by certain funds or banks...
Written by Nicci
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...
Written by Marc
Posted 23 June 2018
Written by Nicci
Posted 4 June 2018
After submission of your tax return, SARS may request certain documents from you.
These may include a letter if you claimed any of the following deductions:
- Home Office
- Wear and Tear on personal devices used for work e.g laptop or cellphone.
- Foreign Employment Income Exemption...
Written by Evan
Posted 30 May 2018
In order to submit tax returns electronically online via TaxTim or via SARS eFiling, you will need a working SARS eFiling profile.
Follow these steps to see if your profile is ready to use, or still being verified:
Do you see no checks next to tax types, and no tax reference number filled in? If YES, your profile is still being verified....
Written by Nicci
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. ...
Written by Nicci
Posted 14 May 2018
Taxpayers who earn Airbnb 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 Airbnb 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 y...
Written by Nicci
Posted 21 February 2018
Taxpayers should breathe a sigh of relief as a much lower than expected R36bn in increased taxes was announced by the once-off Minister of Finance. The biggest news amongst the increases was the VAT rise of 1%. For the first time in 25 years, all South Africans will see most goods and services become a little bit more expensive thanks to the Value Added Tax rise. Although controversial, a VAT rise was much needed and will bring in almost R23...
Written by Nicci
Posted 20 February 2018
1. Log into your eFiling profile
2. Click on Home
3. Click User
4. Then select “Pending registration”
5. Thereafter click on “Open” in the middle of the page
5. This will take you to the “Registration work page” 
...
Written by Nicci
Posted 19 February 2018
By now we are all aware that it is more than likely that SARS will miss its 2018 revenue collection target that it set a year ago by R51bn. The budget deficit (i.e. the gap between government expenditure and income) for the first eight months of the tax year from April to November 2017 widened to a record R195 billion as tax collections lagged due to a slowing economy, low business confidence and a possible slippage in compliance by taxpayers. Sadly, there’s no light at the end of the tunn...
Written by Nicci
Posted 14 February 2018
Many disgruntled taxpayers are receiving SMS’s from SARS who threaten legal action if they don’t pay their outstanding tax debt.
However, these same taxpayers raised a dispute/lodged an objection because they didn’t agree with the SARS assessment and are still waiting for the dispute to be resolved.
This can take up to 60 working days and in many cases, even longer. In fact if the dispute was raised at the end of last year, SARS will take even longer because the period 15 December to 15 Janaury is excluded from the 60 day review period!...
Written by Nicci
Posted 8 February 2018
In the past, taxpayers who received a severance payment benefitted from the favourable tax treatment applied to it. It didn’t matter if the retrenchment was ‘voluntary’ or ‘involuntary’ (i.e. forced). If it was their first such lump sum, R500,000 was exempt from tax and the balance was taxed according to special tax tables.
For the first time last year, SARS issued a guide on Tax Directives, which distinguished, between ‘voluntary’ and ‘involuntary’ retrenchments as follows:...
Written by Nicci
Posted 5 February 2018
If you have reached the age of 55 years, and are thinking of selling your small business, read on to find out more about the special capital gains exclusion of R1,800,000 which may apply to you.
Before getting into the detail, let’s first highlight the three different scenarios where this exclusion may apply:
1. You are selling your business, which you operate as a sole proprietor.
2. You are selling your share of a business, which you run through a partnership....
Written by Nicci
Posted 2 February 2018
Yes, you qualify for the Capital Gains Exclusion relating to the disposal of small business assets on retirement.
You can deduct a once-off cumulative R1,8m exclusion from the capital gain you have made on the sale of your small business.
Please read our blog for further details.
No, you don't qualify for the Capital Gains Exclusion relating to the disposal of small business assets on retirement....
Written by Nicci
Posted 29 January 2018
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