Tax breaks for retirement funding
While there are very few tax breaks for individuals, there are tax breaks available for retirement funding. Retirement tax breaks in South Africa are designed to incentivise individuals to save for retirement and provide them with tax relief on contributions to retirement funds. The government has implemented these various tax incentives over the years to […]
VAT increase and the effect on property transfers and the registration of transfers before and after 1 April 2018
The increase was announced in the Minister of Finance’s Budget Speech on 21 February 2018. The standard rate of VAT will change from 14% to 15% on 1 April 2018 (the effective date). How will this VAT increase affect property transactions, property registrations and estate agent commissions? Question 1: How will the rate increase work […]
The Basics of Estate Duty
When a person dies, they leave behind an estate which includes everything they own. Estate Duty is payable on the estate of every person who dies and whose nett estate is in excess of R3,5 million. It is charged at the rate of 20%. Currently, SARS is responsible for collecting the Estate Duty of a deceased person. […]
Will SARS allow you to deduct your company/close corporation’s assessed loss?
Under normal circumstances SARS will allow a taxpayer to carry forward the previous tax year’s assessed loss and set it off against the current tax year’s taxable income. However, there are certain circumstances under which SARS will not allow a taxpayer to carry forward the previous year’s assessed loss and the assessed loss will be […]
Can SARS re-assess a tax return several years old?
Imagine the following scenario: a taxpayer named Andrew is on his annual vacation for four weeks. On the fifth day of his vacation, he is lying carefree in the sun with his toes wiggled into the warm beach sand. A thought crosses his mind: perhaps he must check his email for a change. Fast forward […]