Individual tax season has opened, the official filing resumes on 07 July 2023. From 30 June to 07 July SARS will be issuing communications to all the tax payers that have at least less complicated tax affairs auto assessment via text or email.
If you have not received one yet, please wait a bit till the 07th July.
If no auto assessment has been received still then you may proceed submit the tax returns manually on e-Filing.
A reminder that it is your responsibility as the tax payer to make sure that all the tax returns for all the periods have been submitted to avoid late submission or non submission penalties being imposed on your account. Tax is an obligation.
SARS Auto assessment:
It is generated automatically when the tax authority believes no additional input from the taxpayer is required. The assessments are based on data from your employer, medical scheme, financial institution and any third-party data providers. All these institutions are obliged to submit your contributions for the past 12 months to make sure that all are taken into account.
If I receive an auto assessment do I just accept it?
No! You MUST check the SARS auto assessment carefully before accepting or rejecting it. No one knows your tax situation better than you, and due to the assessment being automatically generated, there is every chance it could be inaccurate and that can result in you paying monies to the tax-man as a result of such omissions. Because of this the issue of underpayment or overpayment may arise.
Another aspect that you need to take into careful consideration is, if you are a full time employee and also receive an additional income other than that of your employer – you need to make sure that you account for it. For e.g. Rental income, locums, network marketers,etc. When submitting your tax returns using your employer’s Irp5 – you need to declare the extra income received in the past 12 months period. Keep records of all your earnings and expenses so that they can be used to calculate the taxable income. Failure to do so, you are opening up yourself for audits that will drag and exhaust to you. We all wish for a seemless experience with the taxman.
Provisional taxpayer
– are people who earn income other than a salary / remuneration on which no income tax has been deducted/withheld. They will need to declare their total estimated taxable income on their provisional tax returns (IRP6) and pay the applicable tax thereon. Under normal circumstances, your employer will deduct tax on your behalf as PAYE but should you be in contractual agreement that requires you to take care of your taxes, you then fall under this category!
N.B. If you are to use anyone for the submission of your tax returns, be sure to use registered consultants. SARS is in the business of collecting money from the citizens. Please do not withdraw money that you are not sure how they came about. Do not let anyone perform fraudulent activities using your account.
Compiled by Ms. Dikeledi Seoloane on behalf of Matsobanemetja Business Consulting (Pty) Ltd
For more information: enquiries@matsobanemetja.co.za
“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”
Albert Einstein
Matsobanemetja Business Consulting Pty Ltd 