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Taxman gets ready to collect his share
Tax return filing season began this week with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) announcing some improvements that should assist you when filing your return, paying what tax you owe or collecting a refund.
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New measures make it easier for you to file your tax return
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says it has introduced a number of improvements to ensure it is easy for you to comply with the rules when filing your tax return and paying the taxman what you owe.
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An incentive to own up to your transgressions
The taxman and the Treasury are launching their Voluntary Disclosure Programme so that you can put your affairs in order if you have undeclared assets overseas or if you owe tax on local assets or income.
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Law to clarify how your retirement fund benefits will be taxed
Major changes to the taxation of retirement fund benefits have taken place over the past three years. Proposals in this regard in the Taxation Laws Amendment Bills this year largely refine the changes that were announced previously or correct anomalies that have arisen as a result.
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Tax for lower-income earners to be phased in over three years
Lower-income earners who earn more than the tax threshold but avoid tax because they are paid by multiple employers will in future pay tax, but this tax will be phased in over three years.
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How proposed amendments to tax laws will affect you
Proposals in the draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bills released by National Treasury this week give a bit and take a bit when it comes to taxes that are likely to affect you. The proposed changes include the following:
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SARS publishes list of disability expenses you can claim against tax
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has published a list of qualifying expenses that taxpayers can claim against their taxable income if they, their spouses, their children or their spouse's children are disabled.
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PAYE employers will have to register all staff for tax
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) plans to make it compulsory for anyone who is paid by an employer that is registered for Pay As You Earn (PAYE) to register as a taxpayer, even if they earn below the tax threshold or are employed part time.
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Death benefit payouts: weigh up your options carefully
There is no reason you cannot arrange your tax affairs to your best advantage, or to the best advantage of your dependants.
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Spell it out on your tax cheque
If you owe the taxman money, don't make out a cheque to "SARS".
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Tax incentives 'play small role in saving'
Tax incentives are not necessarily a way to encourage long-term savings, says Keith Engel, the chief director of legal tax design at the national treasury.
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Ditch tax-heavy homes
There is a window period to transfer your home from a company or trust into your own name without paying tax – but don’t miss the deadline, because there is unlikely to be another chance.
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Proposed tax may end deferred compensation schemes
Deferred compensation schemes may be scrapped if a proposal in this year's Budget Review to levy fringe benefits tax on employer contributions to such schemes is adopted, Hein Daffue, a legal adviser at Sanlam Life law ser-vices, says.
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'Help graduates' is winning tip
Vuyisa Qabaka, of Claremont in Cape Town, is passionate about empowering graduates to become entrepreneurs. To this end, he sent Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan a tip for the Budget this year, asking that more money be allocated to youth development, in particular to projects that focus on entrepreneurship and job creation.
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Record your mileage for tax
If you receive a travel allowance, do not forget to record the odometer reading on your vehicle when you get home tomorrow night. The tax year ends on February 28, and you will need the reading to determine your total mileage for the 2009/10 tax year.
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Take Pravin's tax advantages where you can
Every year you get tax breaks in the Budget that are aimed mainly at helping you to save but also at alleviating the financial pressures on the elderly.
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Benefits system may be reformed to help the unemployed
The recession over the past year has highlighted the need for reforms to the social insurance system, and the government is considering raising the income replacement rate used by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), the Budget Review says.
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Certain group life benefits may be taxed
The government has given notice that it may tax, effectively as a fringe benefit, the contributions your employer makes on your behalf to an "unapproved" group life assurance scheme assuring employees mainly for death and permanent disability.
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Longer property transfer period?
The window period during which you can transfer property in a trust, company or close corporation into your own name without paying transfer duty, secondary tax on companies or capital gains tax (CGT) may be extended.
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Adjustments to taxation on retirement savings
The comprehensive reform of our retirement-saving system, initially targeted for completion by this year, has stalled, but piecemeal adjustments, mainly to the taxation of retirement savings, have continued.
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How travelling by car will cost you more
Motorists are expected to queue up to fill their tanks on Tuesday, April 6 - the day before the increase in the fuel levy announced in the Budget this week takes effect.
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Some provisional taxpayers may escape the net
The definition of a provisional taxpayer may be changed so that people who make no or small provisional tax payments will not have to register for the tax. We report on who qualifies as a provisional taxpayer, and how and when the tax must be paid.
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Gordhan uses loans, inflation to balance the books
In a fine balancing act, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has let inflation help him balance the Budget without raising taxes in nominal (before-inflation) terms. Instead, he has resorted to borrowing money to balance his maiden Budget, which aims to help lower-income earners and the destitute.
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Changes in how some benefits are taxed could affect your take-home pay
The new tax rates announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan are effective from Monday, March 1 and should therefore affect your March pay cheque. If you earn a salary, however, you should also prepare for a few other changes that were announced in previous Budgets and that could affect your pay cheque and your tax deductions from March 1.
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Tax break lets you save for retirement at a discount
You have two weeks left in which to take advantage of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's annual tax break, which will help you to fill up your retirement coffer at a big discount.
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Your tip for Pravin may win you a mag subscription
Do you have a suggestion as to how the minister of finance should allocate state money? This month, the minister, Pravin Gordhan, presents the national Budget. If you send him a suggestion on what you would like to see in the budget this year, you may just find it being taken seriously - and the whole of South Africa benefiting from your wisdom.
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Tax-free retirement fund withdrawals may not be for you
Changes to the way in which withdrawals from retirement funds are taxed have thrown a lifeline to some people who have lost their jobs over the past year as a result of the economic downturn.
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SARS wants power to search and seize without a warrant
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) wants the power, without a warrant, to conduct a search and to seize documents if it believes you are about to destroy records and evidence of fraudulent activities or income earned. This is one of the more controversial proposals in the Tax Administration Bill, which has been released for comment.
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Taxman lists expenses you can claim for a broader range of disabilities
The expenses you incur as a result of any disability that has a "moderate to severe" impact on your life, or that of a dependant, will be fully tax-deductible from this tax year (2009/2010).
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Transfer a home from a company or trust tax-free
If you have a residential property in a company, a close corporation (CC) or a trust and you would like to transfer it into your own name, now is the time to do so.
[Full Story...]
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