{"id":548790,"date":"2006-05-15T12:26:16","date_gmt":"2006-05-15T12:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/548790-beware-the-taxman.html"},"modified":"2006-05-15T12:26:16","modified_gmt":"2006-05-15T12:26:16","slug":"beware-the-taxman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/548790-beware-the-taxman.html","title":{"rendered":"Beware the taxman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font size=\"2\">Those who use this facility will not have to visit a South African Revenue Service (SARS) branch, though, in certain circumstances, SARS will require original documents to be submitted for verification. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">This year&#8217;s tax return deadline is July 14. SARS will levy penalties on individuals who: <\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Do not submit their income tax returns on time;<\/font><\/li>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Do not disclose all of their income in the return; and<\/font><\/li>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Make a false declaration in the return.<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"2\">The penalties are stiff &#8211; up to 200% of the tax payable. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">SARS may charge interest if you are late in paying tax, at 10.5% per annum. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">You are liable for a fine, and perhaps even jail, if you: <\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Fail to pay the tax you are supposed to (tax evasion);<\/font><\/li>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Fail to complete a tax return if you are supposed to; and<\/font><\/li>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Fail to disclose all your income in the return.<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"2\">No blanket extensions will be granted this year, but if you have legitimate grounds for an extension, you must apply before 14 July. <\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"2\">What documents do you need?<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Your employer should have given you an IRP5 certificate &#8211; a record of how much you earned in the year, how much tax was paid, and the amount paid to pension fund and medical aid &#8211; within six weeks of the end of the tax year (end-February). Contact your human resources department if you have not received one. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">If you receive a travel allowance and have a medical aid, you can claim tax deductions &#8211; but you must prove these with documents such as medical bills and a log book of your travel. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Retirement annuities are a way to get a tax break. You need a certificate from your institution detailing your RA contributions during the tax year. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Interest you receive on unit trusts and cash in the bank is taxable, after a certain limit. You must prove how much interest you received with an IT3(b) certificate. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">While local dividends are not taxable &#8211; and thus don&#8217;t need to be declared &#8211; foreign dividends are (after a certain level), and any foreign interest or foreign dividends should be listed on an IT3(b) certificate. <\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"2\">When do you need to register as a taxpayer?<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Any employee who earns a salary of more than R60000 a year after pension and allowable RA contributions must register for income tax purposes. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Also, anyone who earns interest income of more than R15000 a year; who earns rental income; who derives income from a business; or who is a member of a company or close corporation must register. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">You can register at a SARS branch or on the website (www.sars.co.za). <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Should you earn less than R60000 a year, you need not register as SITE (standard income tax on employees) will be deducted from your salary. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Pensioners who receive a pension and\/or wages exceeding R60000 a year &#8211; or have investment income that takes the total to more than R60000 a year &#8211; must submit a tax return. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">However, over-65s can claim larger interest-income exemption than people younger than 65, as per the SARS tax tables. <\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Benefits of going online?<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Electronic submission allows for automatic calculation of travelling expenditure and capital gains tax. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Register for the service at www.sarsefiling.co.za. Phone the SARS call centre on 0860 709 709 with any queries. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">SARS can put you in touch with a consultant to help you fill in your tax return, at no charge. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\"><i>INet-Bridge<\/i> <\/font><\/p>\n<p \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Individual taxpayers who earn a basic salary plus allowances will, from June 1, be able to submit their income tax returns via the Internet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548790"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548790\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}