On Monday 3rd June SARS announced that people who have only one employer, earn less than R500,000 from that one employer, receive no travel allowance or use-of-company-car benefit or no income from untaxed sources etc do not have to submit a tax return this year. It is important that taxpayers seek the help of a tax practitioner here as, if you interpret SARS’ conditions incorrectly, it can come back to haunt you later by way of arrear taxes and penalties.
It is to the taxpayer’s advantage to keep up-to-date and unbroken records of tax returns and to maintain a record of tax compliance with SARS. If you later want to apply for a loan then you may have to prove tax-compliance and, without having submitted tax returns, you have no tax compliance. The same thing will apply if you need to withdraw money from a retirement fund.
You need to be tax-compliant at all times! SARS may even change the R500,000 ceiling to R250,000 next year and, with no tax return submitted this year, keeping a clean tax compliance record with SARS will be far more difficult.
If, for example, you or your employer paid any contributions to a pension, provident or retirement annuity fund then an assessment, based on your tax return, will reveal if you are due a refund. The same thing applies to any contributions made by you, or your employer, to a medical aid fund and also to any out-of-pocket medical expenses you may have incurred. There are many different circumstances which could lead to a refund.
If you made any donations or if you received any of your income as any form of bursary for your children’s education then you could be due a sizable refund.
We regularly see employers making mistakes with PAYE deductions and any such errors will be laid bare on your assessment. Any of these factors could mean a refund but without submitting a tax return you will never receive a refund that may be due. SARS will simply keep the money.
