Claiming Car Expenses Based on Actual Costs
Know what you can claim, and the documents you need to substantiate it. When an individual taxpayer wishes to submit a tax claim for business travel, the tax return form provides the option of basing their claim on ‘deemed costs’ or ‘actual costs’. Since eFiling has largely automated the process of claiming based on deemed […]
Is a logbook really necessary?
Or can SARS use code 3702 to audit potential business kilometres travelled? I have often wondered whether SARS officials thoroughly review the submitted logbooks when taxpayers claim for travel expenses incurred as a result of business travel, or are these requested just to tick a box? This uncertainty has recently been rresolved—SARS audits the logbooks […]
The Business of Business Travel
Business travel means different things to SARS than to taxpayers. While it has been compulsory for recipients of travel allowances to substantiate their claims by means of a detailed logbook for some years, it has become ever more critical to understand exactly what SARS understands by the term ‘business travel’. The simple reason for making […]
General principles for tax deductions
When can you deduct an expense? Section 11(a) contains the general principles. One of the most-asked tax questions goes along the lines of “can I deduct xxx against my income?” There are two ways to answer this type of question. One is to create a never-ending list of every type of deduction one could contemplate, […]
DOES YOUR HOME OFFICE QUALIFY YOU FOR A TAX DEDUCTION?
As the old adage goes, change is as good as a holiday. But the way that the novel coronavirus has shaken up the world we live in, has, to the contrary, been extremely disruptive and stress-inducing. For many people, the disruption has come in the form of shifting from the traditional office space to working […]