Tag: South African Revenue Service (SARS)

As an election year, a second State of the Nation Address (SONA) will probably be held during June 2019 wherein the newly elected government will present their programme of action for the 2020 financial year. The SONA address that was delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday 7 February 2019, accordingly reflected on the Medium Term Strategic Frameworks designed and implemented in the past five years.

There are now more than 100 registered Section 12J (S12J) companies in South Africa and it is estimated that the market has raised more than R3.6 billion in investments. S12J was instituted in 2009 with a 12 year sunset clause set to end in June 2021. 

It’s that time of year again where more than 3,000 of the world’s top leaders including heads of state, central bankers and representatives from many of the world’s top companies converge on the little town of Davos, Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF).

There are many reasons why a taxpayer may want to know their tax compliance status. A taxpayer may, for example, require a Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) for a tender or an emigration application. 

A new SA-TIED research study estimates that South Africa loses about 7 billion ZAR a year due to profit shifting by multinational corporations; amounting to about 4% of total current corporate income tax receipts.

Tax authorities could do more to realise the full potential of new technology to reduce the tax compliance burden on taxpayers, according to the 2019 edition of the annual Paying Taxes 2019 Report, produced by PwC and the World Bank Group.

While South African citizens temporarily working overseas are still subject to South African tax laws, individuals who wish to permanently emigrate to a new country need to ensure that they follow the correct steps to enable them to take their savings with them and avoid running up against unnecessary tax problems down the line. 

The taxation of real estate investment trusts (REITs) was discussed at the recent National Treasury Workshop on the 2018 draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, held on 4 September 2018, in Midrand. The correct tax treatment of certain anomalies, including the taxing of commercial lease deposits, was raised.

Despite the promising initiatives implemented under the South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) acting Commissioner Mark Kingon, its tribulations in meeting its collection targets have not yet waned, with payroll audits falling under its enhanced collection efforts to make up the shortfall.

With the wave of anti-South African Revenue Service (SARS) sentiment currently washing over South Africa, paying historical value-added tax (VAT) may be a hard pill to swallow. This has resulted in many companies understating or underpaying their VAT and subsequently incurring colossal penalties in addition to the tax payable.