How much Trouble am I in???

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news24

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To those who know a thing or two about tax I'm in need of help.

I've been employed since February 20th of 2007, I work in West Africa. The thing is, since my employment, I have not made any tax submissions and I've not paid any income tax, and I do not have a tax number. I want to be a good citizen and pay up Tax. How do I go about it.

I've been to a SARS office, and their incompetent staff told me that I do not have to pay tax since I do not work in South Africa. But I know that that's just crap, I'm only exempted from paying Tax if I
  1. I work at least 183 days outside the country
  2. And, if I spend at least 60 consecutive days at work in the 183 days period

So will I be criminally charged for Tax Evasion? I do not want a criminal record...So please advice...
 
Do you work here ?

You not in trouble yet as you can still fill in your tax return just go to sars and register for a tax number or go to the site, download the form, fill it in , hand it in at the office, a week later you should have a tax number, register for e filing at www.efiling.co.za and you have till 30th Jan to fill in your tax return for the period of March 2007 - Feb 2008.

I hope you have alot of money saved up cause you'll have to pay quite a bit if your employer didn't remove tax from your pay. If you earning more than 120k per annum you'll owe them approximately 10-15% of 120k
 
Make a record of what they told you, but no, you won't be prosecuted. The new tax forms are pretty simple so you'd have to be quite thick to get them wrong.
 
Bondizzo said:
Do you work here ?

You not in trouble yet as you can still fill in your tax return just go to sars and register for a tax number or go to the site, download the form, fill it in , hand it in at the office, a week later you should have a tax number, register for e filing at www.efiling.co.za and you have till 30th Jan to fill in your tax return for the period of March 2007 - Feb 2008.

I hope you have alot of money saved up cause you'll have to pay quite a bit if your employer didn't remove tax from your pay. If you earning more than 120k per annum you'll owe them approximately 10-15% of 120k
Click to expand...

ZA.Schmidt said:
Make a record of what they told you, but no, you won't be prosecuted. The new tax forms are pretty simple so you'd have to be quite thick to get them wrong.
Click to expand...

Thank you guys, I will make sure that I get my tax number when I come back home just before Christmas..:)
 
As long as you offer up your soul to Pravin Gordhan and also pay the oustanding tax, you will not be prosecuted.
 
It's correct. If you are out of SA more than 183 days you pay no tax. You need to prove it though - passport stamps, old flight tickets, letter from empl0yer etc - and ONLY if SARS asks for it.

Paying tax is your responsibility. Paying the correct amount is also your responsibility. As is sticking to the rules set by SARS. Id you are legitimately out of SA more than 183 days then I don't think you even need to bother registering. It's liek folks who earn less than R48k per year - they don't register until they earn more than that.

Tax is for roads, water, etc ... if you are not here you don't use that so no tax is due.

Where are you by the way? Nigeria? Cameroon?
 
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Ok, the laws changed about 4 or 5 years ago. If you spend more than 50% of your time in SA you then need to pay income tax to SA.

The good news is they problably wont do anything, but if you want to be a good citizen either go directly to SARS or get a auditor to do it for you. They are fairly easy going with people coming forward this last while. My one buddy was working for a UK company from Cape Town and didn't pay taxes for about 4 years. His auditors spoke to SARS and got him off for a very modest amount, less than 100k I think, which is good considering technically he was supossed to pay more than 200 per year.
 
When I pay Tax, will I get a receipt or somekind of confirmation that I paid tax? This is important because I get a tax refund from my employer...

I get paid in US Dollars, so which exchange rate is SARS going to use to determine the amount that I should pay?

Thanks in Advance
 
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oh .. also... if you walk into the SARS office and offer to pay tax they will first see what you can pay etc before getting their legal team involved. It's costs them less to get something from you than sue etc. I think it's called the 'Golden Goose' philosophy or something like that.

I'd get a tax consultant. For R1000,00 he/she can sort you out.
 
SARS is easy on you when you come to them.

But if you've been hiding for years without paying tax, and they find you out, then woe! For they shall tear you asunder in a killing frenzy... :eek: :D
 
Waaib said:
oh .. also... if you walk into the SARS office and offer to pay tax they will first see what you can pay etc before getting their legal team involved. It's costs them less to get something from you than sue etc. I think it's called the 'Golden Goose' philosophy or something like that.

I'd get a tax consultant. For R1000,00 he/she can sort you out.
Click to expand...

I would agree! SARS are desperate for tax, so they make it easier for people to come forward. They are still the only properly run unit in our govermetn as far as I am concerned.
 
So why don't you push that you are out the country for more than 183 days and try be out of it for a further 60 or whateva days consecutively. That why you don't need to pay or worry.
 
news24 said:
But during those 183 days, you need to spend at least 60 consecutive days outside the country.
Click to expand...

If memory serves this is correct. I thought it was 30 consecutive though.

So it needs to be 183 or more in total and insdie that 183 30 (or 60) need to be consecutive (or in a row).
 
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Is remuneration for services rendered outside SA exempt?

Waaib said:
If memory serves this is correct. I thought it was 30 consecutive though.

So it needs to be 183 or more in total and insdie that 183 30 (or 60) need to be consecutive (or in a row).
Click to expand...

Any remuneration a resident earns for services rendered outside South Africa for, or on behalf of, a non-governmental employer is exempt from taxation in South Africa if that individual rendered the services outside South Africa for:

* a period or periods exceeding 183 full days in aggregate during any 12-month period commencing or ending during a year of assessment; and
* a continuous period exceeding 60 full days during that period of 12 months.
Click to expand...

http://www.sars.gov.za/home.asp?pid=1802#isremuneration
 
From the IRP12 guide book.

Residence Basis of Taxation.

All residents are subject to tax in SA on their worldwide income.

What is a resident:

. A person ordinarily resident in SA
. A person not ordinarily resident but physically present in SA for 91 during the year of assessment as well as during each of the preceding 3 years of assessment and physically present for a least 549 days in the preceding 3 years of assessment.

I have not worked in SA since 1997 - I contacted my local SARS office and they made it clear that I was not expected to pay any tax on my foreign earnings, and did not need to submit a return form - they gave me a reference number for our telecon and I then faxed the outcome of our call making listing this reference number. I regularly send a fax confirming that my status has not changed.
I only spend holidays and time between assignments in SA - less than 91 days in a year.

I now earn a few thousand bucks from rental, so need to check with them about this.
 
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