Long-term goals, or short-term gains?
More than a million applications have already been lodged with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to pull funds out of their savings. Given that this amounts to R21.4 billion, that’s a frightening amount of money for a country that doesn’t have a savings culture. What with more people withdrawing cash under the Two Pot […]
Every contract has a tax consequence
When drafting a contract, ignoring tax will often be to your peril. Every single contract in terms of which money or property changes hands has tax consequences for the parties involved. These consequences have been plainly evident in cases where people bought their fixed property in a Close Corporation or private company, thinking that because […]
Five expensive payroll errors
These common PAYE errors could cost you dearly with SARS. With SARS continually seeking to increase its revenues however it can, organisations with misconceptions about how certain payroll elements should be taxed may unknowingly be exposing themselves financially. We often come across the following top five payroll errors that organisations need to question and correct […]
SARS’ “Lie Detector” tests
Are you fiddling your taxes? Here’s how SARS can catch you… In the old South Africa, the favourite national pastimes were braaivleis, rugby, and cheating on your tax returns. This was made easier by the fact that the Receiver of Revenue of old operated in an environment where no two offices even talked to one […]
More blackouts, fewer jobs, less tax revenue
When will government recognise that Eskom’s crisis is South Africa’s crisis? It is shocking that the South African government seems not to regard the now regular power blackouts lasting four hours at a time as the single biggest risk to South Africa’s economic growth and to its relatively stable young democracy. This can only exacerbate […]
Testamentary trusts still have their place
How you can protect your assets from predators—including SARS Trusts have received a lot of bad press over the past few years, what with SARS taking a dim view of the use of trusts as a means of avoiding tax. A 2008 case involving a property trust, where the beneficiaries were changed in the hope […]
Disclose your defaults before SARS finds them!
A grim warning for South African taxpayers Long gone are the days when tax fraudsters could run circles around SARS, which has intensified its efforts to crack down on tax evasion by pursuing criminal action against non-compliant taxpayers. One example is when SARS came knocking on the door of a private hospital and its director, […]
Tax certificate uploads: How to avoid SARS issues
Check, check, and check again … The SARS e-filing system has come a long way from its humble beginnings, and it is clear that the tax office is moving ever-closer to a situation whereby the majority of taxpayers will no longer be required to submit a return each year—employers, investment funds, and medical schemes will […]
How SARS catches tax-dodgers
SARS auditors employ methods that most people wouldn’t have even considered How does the South African Revenue Service (SARS) catch those who do not contribute their fair share to state coffers? Here are some tests that SARS auditors perform to see if you are being somewhat economical with the truth. Comparing VAT returns to your […]
Share Disposals: Calculating SARS’s slice
How to work out the taxable capital gain when disposing of share investments One of the underlying principles of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is that a capital gain is normally determined as being the difference between the proceeds on sale of an asset, less the so-called ‘base cost’. Calculating the base cost is therefore critical […]