Tag: South African Revenue Service (SARS)

What can we do to stop the bleeding? According to SARS data, the number of companies in the financial and business services sector dropped from 222,532 in 2007 to 139,664 in 2016 - a loss of more than 80,000 firms in 10 years.

For those who have been subjected to a SARS audit, it may be hard to imagine a reality where this experience can be any more agonising. If this resonates with you, perhaps consider a world where SARS makes you pay for the resources it had to expend in putting you through this ordeal. The truth is, it can.

On 1 March 2020 the amended section of the Income Tax Act concerning the foreign employment income exemption comes into effect. This so-called 'expat tax' has caused concern among South Africans working abroad who currently pay no tax if they meet certain criteria. But, from next year, only R1 million of this income will be exempt from tax here.

When you get audited by SARS, before payment of your Value-Added Tax (VAT) refund, expect a long road accompanied by lots of frustration. Adding to this is that usually when a refund is claimed, it is often when your business really needs the cash flow.

The Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, used the opportunity in the National Budget Speech to address the concerns raised by many South African citizens, corporates and international ratings agencies.

Where is the focus on growing South Africa’s small business sector? That is the overriding question we are left with at the end of Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s maiden budget speech. The few mentions the Minister made about Small & Medium Businesses were short on detail at a time when we desperately need to supercharge the growth of this segment.

In the 2019 State of the Nation Address, our President set out an ambitious agenda for our nation. It is an agenda that speaks to the South Africa that we can be. It is a task list for all of us. It lays out a series of interventions that will put South Africa on a bold new path.

Against the backdrop of the weakening Rand, the pain point of the increased marginal tax rate of 45 per cent, the increase in the VAT rate by 1 percent in April 2018 and the decline in household spend, can South Africans really afford another tax rate hike?

When Finance Minister Tito Mboweni gives his Budget Speech for the 2019/20 tax year next week (20 February), I hope to hear examples of how the government will work towards boosting South Africa’s ranking in The World Bank's annual 'Doing Business Report'. Given that India climbed 23 positions in this year’s ranking and that South Africa ranked 32nd just a decade ago, this goal is highly achievable.

Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, delivers his first Budget Speech on 20 February at a difficult time for the South African economy. Even though President Cyril Ramaphosa has done much to restore business confidence in his first year in office, GDP growth remains weak, government finances are in relatively poor shape, and renewed load shedding is hurting business confidence.