SABC doubles down on TV licence tax and more than 40 countries quit coal.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has doubled down on its plans to scrap the traditional TV licence model in South Africa in favour of a new public media levy.
Presenting to parliament this past week, the national broadcaster said that the new levy would be device-independent and apply to all households and businesses.
It would also be based on whether South Africans can access the content, not just whether they watch it. South Africans would therefore be required to pay the levy even if they don’t watch SABC content – simply being able to access it, on any device, is enough. Read the full article here.
More than 40 countries have committed to shift away from coal, in pledges made at the COP26 climate summit. Read the full article here.
Did You Know?
We have roughly the same number of clients based in the United Kingdom and Canada combined as we do in South Africa? Our team of qualified experts collaborates using Xero, Quickbooks and a host of other cloud-based systems with clients around anywhere in the world!
If you’re ever thinking of expanding to other geographies, feel free to chat to us.
Important Dates & Notices
General Dates
Tax and Accounting Deadlines
Below are important tax deadlines to keep in mind for the month of December for individuals and companies.
Individuals
- Filing Season – Filing Season for individuals has been extended to 2nd December 2021 (for non-provisional taxpayers), with provisional taxpayers having until the end of January to file via eFiling.
Employers (PAYE)
All businesses that are registered for PAYE, must follow the schedule below:
- Monthly – the EMP201 must be submitted monthly – by the 7th of the following month or the Friday* before that day if the 7th falls on a weekend or public holiday.
Companies
- Provisional Tax- The filing and payment by companies of provisional tax (IRP6’s) is 6 months after year end (1st period), At financial year end (2nd period) and Six months after financial year end (3rd period).
- For those companies that have a December year end, December is the month by which all top up payments need to be done.
VAT Vendors
- Electronic (eFiling) – submission of the return by the 25th and payment of the VAT201 by the last business day of the month.
If you’re not a monthly client and are in need of these returns being filed, contact us to arrange that we assist with these returns.
Tax Corner
Has your personal income tax return been selected for either verification or audit? Is there a difference?
SARS Verifications and Audits are two terms that are often used interchangeably but are, in fact, quite different processes.
Verifications are validation of the information declared on a return. SARS would issue a letter requesting supporting documentation to confirm the details provided. SARS’ turnaround time is 21 working days to complete the verification process upon receipt of the documents.
Should SARS not be completely satisfied with the information provided, SARS could elect to place the return under Audit. During this process, SARS will request additional information which in most cases is very detailed and specific. SARS will examine the information provided to determine the accuracy of the declaration. The turnaround time for audits is much longer – Up to 90 working days. You may have to wait much longer for that refund!
Regardless, with both processes it is very important to respond within the given time frames. If this does not happen SARS often adds back the relevant item (expense, VAT input, etc) and then it is an even longer process to the necessary correction made via an Objection, Appeal or other Corrective action.
Articles We Found Interesting
SARS VAT Invoice Requirements: What Is Required?
Registering as a VAT vendor with SARS may seem daunting as it brings about new regulations that an entity needs to comply with. However, when all the legal jargon that makes up the VAT Act has been removed the requirements for VAT invoices become relatively easy to understand. Let’s look at the SARS VAT Invoice Requirements to ensure you have all the correct information on your Tax Invoices.
To access the full article about the SARS VAT invoice requirements please click on the link below :
SARS Vat invoice requirements.
Some More Interesting News…
- Junk food tax proposed for South Africa
- These are the most in-demand jobs in SA’s tech sector – here’s what you’ll need to bag them
- R44.9 billion of unclaimed pension funds in SA ‘unclaimable’, say unsuccessful beneficiaries
- British Airways begins cancelling flights to and from SA as UK travel ban takes effect
- Double Olympic gold medalist is joining the Ethiopian military to fight in the country’s civil war
- Your Instagram, Facebook Messenger chats aren’t going to be encrypted like WhatsApp until 2023 – Meta
Signing Off
CFO360 would like to wish you and your loved ones a very joyful Festive Season and a happy and successful 2022!
If you have any queries email us at [email protected].
