Provisional tax is not separate from income tax but simply a mechanism to pay your taxes during the tax year instead of having a large amount owing to SARS on assessment when you submit your tax return (ITR12).
Think of provisional tax as an 'advance payment' of your taxes that are due to SARS. This is required because provisional taxpayers don't pay tax monthly to SARS via the PAYE system, like regular salaried employees do.
Provisional taxpayers are required to submit two provisional tax returns (IRP6) during the tax year as well as make the applicable tax payments. The first provisional tax return must be submitted six months into the tax year (i.e end of August) and the second provisional tax return by the end of the tax year (i.e end of February). Just like regular taxpayers, provisional taxpayers also need to submit their annual income tax return (ITR12) after the tax year that has passed.
For further details, see our blog What is Provisional Tax? How and When?
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