SARS embraces technology

[Ou grote]

Wan't sure if I should post in the current affairs section, but this has to do with "wealth" I guess.


news24

Cape Town - A radically transformed revenue collection system was envisaged by the commissioner of the SA Revenue Service (SARS) Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday.
Explaining the changes that SARS is implementing this year, Gordhan told parliament's finance committee that this year employers would be able to use SARS's own payroll software, which will involve a simplified process, and a form (EMP501) that will allow them to do their own reconciliations of deductions and IRP5 forms.

"Reconciliations will need to increase in frequency over the next few years," he told the committee. An annual account is all that is necessary this year, but next year the reconciliation will have to be done every six months, and from 2010 it will be every quarter.

"Eventually," he said, "we shall move to real-time reconciliation, though I don't think many of us will be around to see it."

However by 2012, he reckoned the tax filing system, would have become so automated that the tax could be assessed and paid and refunds automatically transferred into taxpayers' bank accounts, without filling in a form at all.

For individual taxpayers, no tax return form will be sent in the post this year. Instead a letter will be sent asking individual taxpayer to request a tax form if they need one.

"It is a bold move," Gordhan said. "It is a culture shift, so we will be as sensitive as possible to public reaction."

It is necessary, he said, because of the huge waste of money sending out forms to the one million tax payers who file their returns electronically, and to those employees who from now on will not need to file returns if they earn less than R120 000 a year and have not changed employer during the year.

The returns received by taxpayers whether electronic or paper will already have their IRP5 data filled in - "pre-populated" he called it.

This gets over two particular problems. One is that taxpayers frequently make mistakes when copying figures from their IRP5s, the other is that so do the staff of SARS.

Gordhan admitted to the committee that the challenge set his organisation by the finance minister to collect R642.2bn worth of tax this year is a tough one.

Because of the economic climate, with high inflation, rising interest rates - both of them working to reduce consumption - the tax take may well be down. Profitability was impacted by global and local conditions, he said.

"But we shall continue to work towards the R642bn."

 

[HavocXphere]

So instead of sending you the real letter, they send you a letter asking you to request the real letter.

Sounds like Neotel's tactic of announcing an upcoming announcement.

 

[Waaib]

Pravin Gordhan was on 702 the other day. I couldn't help thinking that the Department of Home Affairs need him to take over there.

 

[CathJ]

So instead of sending you the real letter, they send you a letter asking you to request the real letter.

Sounds like Neotel's tactic of announcing an upcoming announcement.

It kinda makes sense though - if you file electronically, you don't need the forms. And they're also going to customise the forms for you, so when you reply, you tell them which sections you need (eg. whether or not you need a car allowance section) and then the form they eventually send you only has those sections you need.

 

[sahopeful]

This was a great move by SARS. For my no-frills tax return, it is just so convenient..

 

[Moederloos]

Good move.

Every year I copy my IRP5 to a form and send it in - what a waste of time.

If ever I do need to make specific claims etc, then I can ask for one.

 

[Ou grote]

I'm going to just fill it in online this year, bit too much effort to request a form.
Guess that's what they prefer.