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Tax options for freelancers
As a freelancer should you form a company or remain a sole proprietor? During periods of weaker economic growth, companies are more open to using freelancers or contractors to reduce their cost-to-company spend. It also creates employment in an...
Possible wealth tax
By Hilary Dudley, Managing Director of Citadel Fiduciary Proprietary Limited On 25 April 2017 the Davis Tax Committee (DTC) released a media statement calling for written submissions on the possible introduction of wealth taxes in South Africa....
How do I calculate my tax?
By Cathie Webb, Director, South African Payroll Association Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, released updated tax tables on 22 February during his 2017 budget speech. We understand that many of us will be paying more tax and therefore taking...
Spouses need to review their finances
Changes to the taxation of estates could leave a surviving spouse with a hefty tax bill. Last month the Davis Tax Committee (DTC) issued an update on its tax recommendations especially around so-called “death taxes”. Some of the key recommendations...
Ignore SARS questionnaires at your peril
by Nthati Khumalo, Tax Compliance Trainee at BDO South Africa The High Court recently held that Mr Julian Brown must submit a response to a SARS lifestyle questionnaire or suffer the consequences. SARS may in terms of the Tax Administration Act...
The tax implications of cellphone allowances
Esther van Schalkwyk, senior tax consultant at BDO South Africa unpacks some of the important aspects of cellphone allowances and highlights the value of proper tax planning. Many employees receive a cellphone allowance in some form or other as...
The impact of tax increases on your R1000
By Ricardo Teixeira, COO of BDO Wealth Advisers With South Africa precariously placed on the cusp of a credit rating downgrade, being able to demonstrate to the global credit rating agencies that ‘SA Incorporated’ is solvent and growing has been a...
Time is ticking on disclosing your foreign assets
By Kezia Talbot, Legal Advisor at BDO Wealth Advisers For those taxpayers with undisclosed foreign assets, time is running out. With the introduction of FATCA and a global standard for the automatic exchange of information between countries’ tax...
Budget 2016: What do the Capital Gains Tax changes mean?
By Hedley Lamarque, Certified Financial Planner at BDO Wealth Advisers If you have been planning on cashing in an investment (such as shares or unit trusts) in the short term, then it would be better to do it before the end of February 2016, due to...
Previous Articles
Changes to how corrections of tax assessments are handled
By David Warneke, Director and Head of Tax Technical at BDO South Africa The Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act of 2015, which was promulgated on 8 January 2016, states that in future SARS will not be permitted to entertain so-called ‘requests for correction’ of...
Retirement reform going ahead
By Vickie Lange, Institutional Best Practice Specialist at Alexander Forbes Last year the tax changes to all retirement funds and the retirement benefit changes to provident funds (together known as T-day changes) which were originally scheduled for 1 March 2015 were...
How much tax will I pay on my investment?
Dihemo asks: I have R50 000 I want to invest but I want to understand how tax works on investments. Maya replies: Tax is an important part of investing. There are three taxes that are deducted when you invest. Income tax on interest Any interest earned on your...
Taxpayer-unfriendly changes to Tax Administration Act proposed
Proposals contained in the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill of 2015 would dramatically decrease the amount of time in which the Commissioner is permitted to issue a reduced tax assessment, writes David Warneke, Director and Head of Tax Technical at BDO South...
Is a wealth tax likely for South Africa?
Professor Matthew Lester weighs in on a wealth tax and whether it is a solution to South Africa's revenue needs. The Davis Tax Committee (DTC) believes that a wealth tax for South Africans is not the universal solution to South Africa’s revenue needs. This is the view...
Interpreting REITs
Abrie Joubert, Client Services Specialist at Glacier by Sanlam, looks at the finer details of a real estate investment trust (REIT) and how it affects your finances. What is a REIT? You may have noticed an entry on your investment statements and IT3b tax certificate...
Why a marriage contract saves you tax
A marriage contract is not just about divorce; it defines what happens to your finances while you are married. Not formalising your relationship could cost you more than you realise. When Melanie and John decided to get married after living together for 29 years, it...
Concerns with eFiling and erroneous tax registration
Concerns about SARS eFiling have been raised in the first annual report issued by the Office of the Tax Ombud. In several cases bank details were changed on the eFiling system resulting in a refunds being paid into a third-party bank account. In other cases fraudulent...
Tax Ombud gives a voice to taxpayers
The first Tax Ombud report raises important concerns with SARS processes and has already made a difference to ordinary taxpayers in resolving outstanding issues. In its first six months of operation, from 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014, the Tax Ombud office assisted...
It’s annual tax phishing season
With tax filing season upon us, the annual tax-related cyber-fraud feeding frenzy has begun, warns Jonas Thulin, Security Consultant at Fortinet. "The Receiver of Revenue, financial institutions and security firms have been issuing the same warnings every tax season...