Filing a tax return can be confusing and time consuming, particularly if you have more than one source of income or are eligible for several deductions. As frustrating as bureaucracy can sometimes be, expressing your irritation to anyone at SARS will probably not get you far. If any issues arise, it’s best to contact SARS professionally in writing so that your discussion is recorded and can be referenced. If you wish to relieve yourself of the […]
Continue readingMore TagCategory: Tax
Financial yoga
You don’t have to be able to do a headstand or salute the sun every day to appreciate the benefits of yoga. Now, this isn’t to say that everyone needs to start a daily practice, but it can be helpful to recognise that we can learn a lot from this ancient discipline. When you practice yoga, you are not only studying the asanas (postures), but you are also honing valuable life skills, such as flexibility, balance […]
Continue readingMore Tag
5 tax return tips
Brace yourself — the start of income tax season is nigh, which means it’s time to prepare to file your tax return. It’s worth always trying to submit your tax return sooner rather than later, as being efficient can save you standing in line at SARS at the last minute if any problems arise. As a provisional taxpayer, it’s important to register and declare all sources of income to SARS, along with a workings table to […]
Continue readingMore Tag
What you need to know about tax season
Along with the chill of winter, the opening of income tax season next month may send shivers down your spine. The official date from which you can file your tax return (ITR12) this year is Sunday, 1st July 2018. From that point, taxpayers can start submitting their 2018 personal income tax returns for the 2017/18 tax year, which runs from 1st March 2017 to 28th February 2018. Due to the country’s flailing economic growth and its […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Top tax tips for small businesses in South Africa
January may begin with resolutions for the year ahead – but March begins with Tax Resolutions for the next tax year. We promise ourselves to be a little more organised, a little more prudent and try to minimise our contributions the next time around. BusinessTech recently said that with the many challenges small business owners face every day, being tax compliant is often not at the top of the list and tax deadlines often come and […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Retirement tax reform
Also known as The Commutation of Benefits, there are some big changes coming for retirement and provident fund holders. Essentially, these all relate to how the money is drawn (commuted) or re-invested.After being delayed by a year, the Taxation Laws Amendment Act is being put into place on 1 March 2016 (‘T-day’). The legislation changes seek to balance out the tax treatment for the different types of retirement funds.First, there are changes on how much of […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Easy tax-claim tips to keep you ahead!
Bank statements, municipal bills, phone bills, petrol slips, receipts, the list goes on. It’s that time of year again, when you have to forage through stacks of paper for everything that you need to fill in your tax return.Not everyone is great at admin… and there are piles of things to keep track of; it starts to mount up if you don’t have some sort of system in place.Here are some basic tips on how to […]
Continue readingMore Tag
THE BENEFITS OF A TAX FREE ACCOUNT
With the introduction of tax free savings accounts (TFSA), people have been wondering what sort of benefits they provide. So what are the main reasons to consider a TFSA?The first reason would be to replace the interest exemption in our tax laws. It was specifically stated that with the introduction of the TFSA, there would be no increase to the annual interest exemption in future. Since many retirees used this interest exemption to minimise tax in […]
Continue readingMore Tag
BUDGET 2015 – HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW…
“Today’s budget is constrained by the need to consolidate our public finances, in the context of slower growth and rising debt.” said Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene. Giving the budget speech was a far from enviable job in light of the huge government spending deficit that needs to be recovered. The speech was a short 26 pages long, but what every person on the street wants to know is: How will this affect me? Remember, the […]
Continue readingMore Tag
6 TIPS FOR TAX FILING
When it comes to listing our fears, many people might cite spiders, thunderstorms and clowns as their top three. But for many of us we have to deal with SARS more frequently than clowns, however ironic that may sound, and dealing with SARS can be quite a scary thought! During the next tax season, which started at the beginning of this month, The South African Revenue Service intends on collecting nearly R1trn. Dealing with SARS does […]
Continue readingMore Tag