Tag: South African Revenue Service (SARS)

Transfer Pricing compliance requirements in South Africa have been significantly tightened and a modern transfer pricing system, including electronic transfer pricing return submission, has been put in place.

Can SARS refuse to pay a VAT refund on grounds that income tax is due? This is the question which the court had to address in Top Watch (Pty) Ltd v CSARS.

Incorrect information and advice from tax practitioners, or in some cases South African Revenue Service (SARS) officials, has resulted in the misunderstanding of complex South African expatriate tax legislation, which has landed many South African in deep water with SARS.

Statistics South Africa (StatSA) released the Community Survey in 2016 noting that a total of 94,760 South Africans have emigrated between 2006 and 2016. A more recent study performed by the Pew Research Centre in February 2018 notes that 900,000 people born in South Africa were living abroad for one year or longer. The top three destinations being United Kingdom, Australia and United States.

There have been a number of binding private rulings providing for the deductibility of contributions made by employer companies to share incentive trusts for the purpose of acquiring shares in the former.

Multinationals with South African group companies are required to adhere to South Africa’s transfer pricing legislation as found in section 31 of the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962, which provisions in very simple terms require cross-border transactions (which include loans) to be conducted on an arm’s length basis.

A trend of increased delays and frustration with the South African Revenue Service’s (SARS’) dispute resolution process, are becoming apparent among taxpayers and tax practitioners alike.

In the recent case of CSARS v Char Trade, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that prescription begins to run against CSARS when a return for secondary tax on companies (STC) is submitted to SARS by a taxpayer.

A recent judgment handed down in the Pretoria High Court last month highlights SARS’s intransigence when applying certain aspects of the Tax Administration Act, 28 of 2011 (the TAA).

If filling in a tax return were an easy task, South African Revenue Service (SARS) would not have a page dedicated to How to complete your income tax return. When in doubt, turn to a professional for advice, but in the meantime here are some tips for a smooth tax return submission: