Tag: taxable income

South Africa’s tax base continues to evolve in striking ways. Recent South African Revenue Service (SARS) figures show a growing trend. The number of individuals registered for tax increased from 25.9 million in 2023 to 27.1 million in 2024. Yet, only 7.6 million of these individuals were expected to file a return.

To the relief of Coronation Investment Management SA (Coronation), the Constitutional Court has overturned the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA) judgment in favour of the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

Paying monthly contributions to a registered medical aid scheme ensures your healthcare cover and offers financial benefits facilitated by the government through tax relief. This tax relief, known as "tax credits", is a percentage deducted from your tax liability and subsequently refunded to you.

Tax season inevitably means digging out all those airline boarding passes, fuel slips and receipts from your travels over the past year. As a frequent business traveller, you've likely accumulated quite the collection in hopes of a decent refund on allowable expenses. However, the taxman wants more than a shoebox stuffed with crumpled receipts.

For most South African businesses, the skills development component of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) scorecard is one of the most challenging and costly elements to deliver on. However, by strategically combining employed and unemployed learnerships, businesses can secure the most points for the least money spent, while achieving the best return on their training and skills development investment.

If you’re saving for your retirement, both retirement annuities (RAs) and tax-free investments (TFIs) are good investment choices. But which one offers the best tax benefits? The answer depends on your investment goals and unique circumstances. While there are tax benefits associated with both RAs and TFIs, the benefits are structured differently, and the product rules and restrictions are quite distinct.

The fiscal pressures on South African Revenue Service's (SARS) tax collection appear to have now compelled SARS to actively initiate the arrest and prosecution of taxpayers who do not accurately declare their taxable income. For long time, it has been warned that SARS possesses third-party information from banks, financial institutions, estate agents, car dealerships etc., enabling them to identify those who are not declaring their income correctly.

At first, the response to government’s power moves, announced at last month’s Budget Speech, was overwhelmingly positive. Energy packages, which offered tax incentives for households and businesses to offset the steep financial toll of load shedding, were introduced.

Tax efficiency should be a key focus area for any investor’s financial plan. By making sure our tax affairs are in order, considering the tax implications of our investment decisions and maximising the tax benefits on offer, we can improve our long-term financial outcomes.

New year, new dreams, new aspirations, new diets, new action plans, new holiday ideas, new jobs, and typically, also a "new you." We can all relate to the "new year, new you" tagline. A fresh start to get our lives back on track and to live the lives we want to live.