Tag: tax compliance

The Skills Development component of B-BBEE scorecards has created a large and robust training industry. However, while many organisations deliver quality learnerships and skills programmes, an alarming number exploit the system and the corporate sponsors of learnerships. The consequences extend far beyond financial loss.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has officially discontinued the printing and posting of all system-generated letters, effective 31 May 2025. From this date forward, all correspondence will be delivered electronically via eFiling and other digital platforms. This shift reflects the fact that SARS discontinues printed letters as part of its broader digital strategy.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is no longer the passive revenue service many South Africans remember. With an injection of R3.5 billion from the national budget and the ominous launch of “Project AmaBillions”, SARS has entered its most aggressive enforcement phase in years.

A recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling should deliver a stark warning to businesses claiming input Value Added Tax (VAT) deductions without a watertight legal foundation. In Aveng Mining Shafts & Underground v CSARS (1192/2023) [2025] ZASCA 20, the SCA sided with South African Revenue Service (SARS) and disallowed almost R17.5 million in VAT input claims.

Small businesses in South Africa manage multiple priorities, such as business efficiency, innovation and growth. Many overlook the value of claiming the full range of tax benefits available to them amidst these daily challenges.

Annual tax law amendments now require a Public Officer appointment immediately upon forming a company. Recent updates to Section 246 of the Tax Administration Act, No. 24 of 2011 (TAA) took effect on 24 December 2024. These changes remove the one-month window for appointing a Public Officer. This amendment creates a critical shift for businesses across South Africa.

Almost three months after South Africa introduced the long-awaited Remote Work Visa to attract foreign digital nomads who can choose any exotic destination in the world to work from, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) sees an uptick in enquiries from these remote workers who want to move to South Africa, and specifically to Cape Town.

After years of threatening non-compliant trusts with penalties for late tax return submissions, South African Revenue Service's (SARS) leniency seems to be ending.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) continues to face challenges in collecting receivables and addressing disputes with taxpayers. The SARS Annual Report for 2023/24 highlights intensified efforts in tax debt collection and dispute resolution. SARS is implementing new strategies and refining processes to tackle challenges in enforcing tax compliance.

With 2024 being the first year that trust taxpayers are tasked with submitting third party IT3(t) returns to South African Revenue Service (SARS) by 30 September 2024, this change of the filing season could potentially offer a silver lining for trust taxpayers, granting them additional time to prepare for their 2024 tax return filing along with the added compliance measures that come with the submission.