matters relating to income tax

Multi-year learnerships:   We confirm that the allowance operates as follows for multi-year learnerships (SAICA training contracts):   For multi-year learnerships (i.e. contacts that equal or more than 24 full months), the comme...

Deductions 1784. Learnership allowances November 2009 - Issue 123     Section 12H was introduced into the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 in 2002 and grants an additional tax allowance in respect of recognised learnership agreements ente...

Deductions 1783. What is a `repair'? November 2009 - Issue 123   Section 11(d) of the Income Tax Act, No. 58 of 1962 (the Act) provides that a taxpayer is entitled to a deduction in respect of expenditure incurred on "repairs" o...

Johannesburg, Thursday, 26 November 2009 - Many employers are unaware of the amendments in The Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2009, that simplifies learnership allowances which is deductible from income. “These allowances qualify for an additional ...

New Notice of Objection Forms - 8 December 2009 SARS Practitioners' Unit With effect from 7 December 2009, SARS will no longer accept current Notice of Objection forms for Personal Income Tax objections. Existing Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) ...

Deductions 1567. Ring-fencing of losses October 2007 – Issue 98     Section 20A was made effective from 1 March 2004. Assessed losses prior to that date applied against trading income will not be counted for inclusion in the various ...

Deductions 1704. Residential building allowances February 2009 – Issue 114     In the past, income tax allowances for residential property have had limited application and have not provided any significant relief to taxpayers who pur...

Transfer Duty 1076. Transfer duty February, 2003     In the past, no property transfer duty was payable on the transfer of shares in a company (or members interest in a close corporation) even if the sole asset of that company / close...

Capital Gains 1754. Amnesty for domestic residences held by companies August 2009 – Issue 120 Prior to 2002, many people used private companies and close corporations as vehicles to purchase their homes. At the time, the purchase of the shares i...

Deductions 1757. New guidance on wear and tear allowances August 2009 – Issue 120 SARS has issued a new interpretation note dealing with wear and tear allowances. The new interpretation note has replaced the practice notes 15 (leased assets), ...

General1740. Public officer awarenessJune 2009 – Issue 118 A public officer is the representative taxpayer for a company, and therefore that person will serve as the face of the company for tax purposes. All actions carried out in his...

Deductions1736. Travel expensesJune 2009 – Issue 118 Persons in receipt of allowances for out-of-town travel have, for a number of years, been permitted to claim deduction of subsistence and incidental expenses against such allowances...

Anti-avoidance1733. Acceptable tax planningJune 2009 – Issue 118 Every day, taxpayers structure their transactions to make use of the deductions, exemptions and allowances contained in the tax statutes so as to minimise the tax liabil...

Deductions1704. Residential building allowancesFebruary 2009 – Issue 114 In the past, income tax allowances for residential property have had limited application and have not provided any significant relief to taxpayers who purchase r...

Deductions1601. Depreciable assets: connected personsFebruary 2008 – Issue 102 The Income Tax Act contains a number of similar provisions, albeit scattered, dealing with the purchase of depreciable property from connected persons. The...

Companies1625. Transfer of depreciable assets to connected personsMay 2008 – Issue 105 The taxing acts are scattered with provisions to prevent taxpayers from securing any unwarranted tax benefits apart from the new General Anti-Avoid...

Employees’ Tax1125. Independent contractorsOctober, 2003 The question of when a person is an employee for tax purposes as opposed to an independent contractor is one that continues to cause difficulties and conflict for taxpayers and ...

General1474 What constitutes "trade"?January 2007 – Issue 89 ITC 1802 (68 SATC 67) essentially required the Court to deal with the "vexed question" (in the words of the Court) of what constitutes "trade". The facts of the case ...

General1432. Home office allowanceIssue 84 - August 2006 When section 23(m) was introduced (1 March 2002), employees who did not receive remuneration mainly in the form of commission were no longer able to claim home office expenditure agai...

Deductions1396. Home office expensesIssue 80 - April 2006 The impact of section 23(m) of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 (the Act), when it was introduced in the 2003 tax year, was to deny a tax deduction for typical business expenditure ...

Deductions1281. Employee deductionsApril 2005 – Issue 68 The deductions available for employees are very restricted. The current position is as follows: · With effect from 1 March 2002, all allowances (including entertainment ...

General1211. Problems encountered with disallowance of deductionsAugust 2004 Section 23(m) was introduced into the Income Tax Act ("the Act") in 2001 and became effective from 1 March 2002. In terms of the provision, an employee or office-h...

Deductions1170. Employee deductionsApril, 2004     The deductions available for employees are very restricted. The current position is as follows:   ·          With ...

Employees’ Tax1722. Proposed amendments to the administration requirementsApril 2009 – Issue 116 The 2009 Budget was fairly uncontroversial in many respects. There were, however, certain significant proposed amendments menti...

1723. Tax EvasionReliance on professional adviceApril 2009 – Issue 116 Central to the much-publicised trial of Garth Le Roux, the former Springbok cricketer turned businessman, and his accountant Deon van Heerden on charges of tax fra...

Employees’ Tax1721. Personal use of business cell phones and computersApril 2009 – Issue 116 The National Treasury and SARS have cited enforcement inability and onerous compliance costs as the reason for removing the taxable...

New provisional tax threshold February 14, 2009By Laura du PreezThe threshold for determining whether a taxpayer over the age of 65 needs to register for provisional tax will be increased significantly.Currently, if you are over the age of 65 and ear...

Income1132. Inept creditors - is the lucky debtor taxable?October, 2003 In ITC 1634 (60 SATC 235), the taxpayer, a shipping, clearing and forwarding agent, was held to be taxable on amounts owing for services rendered to it, but which had n...

International Tax1717. Tax for expatriatesMarch 2009 – Issue 115 In a globalised world the days of traditional economic systems are numbered. National markets are no longer considered distinct entities isolated from each other by ...

General1716. Preservation of secrecyMarch 2009 – Issue 115 Section 4 of the Income Tax Act, Act 58 of 1962, as amended (the Act) contains peremptory provisions prohibiting the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (the Co...

Capital Gains Tax1712. The effective date of a disposalMarch 2009 – Issue 115 It is common business practice for parties disposing of assets and businesses to stipulate that the transaction would be effective from a date specified in ...

Deductions/Recoupments1327. Ring-fencing of assessed lossesSeptember 2005 – Issue 73 SARS has introduced legislation, section 20A of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 (the Act) with effect from the 2005 tax year which ring-fences asse...

Income1367. Judgment throws useful light on aspects of section 8(4) (a)January 2006 – Issue 77 Where a partner disposes of part or all of his interest in the partnership, does he thereby recoup, in terms of section 8(4)(a) of the Inco...

Deductions1704. Residential building allowancesFebruary 2009 – Issue 114 In the past, income tax allowances for residential property have had limited application and have not provided any significant relief to taxpayers who purchase r...

Deductions1657. Interest on replacement loanSeptember 2008 – Issue 109 On several occasions over the past year, the tax court has awarded costs against SARS on the punitive attorney and client basis as a sign of its disapproval of the...

Subsistence allowances and tax Michael Stein (LexisNexis, TaxNET – Friday Page) In terms of s 8(1) of the Income Tax Act, the amount of a subsistence allowance to be taxed in your hands as an employee must be reduced by the costs that you incur o...

How proposed amendments to tax laws will affect you May 15, 2010 By Laura du Preez 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 li...

Companies 1872. Interpretation note on the Brummeria judgment October 2010 - Issue 134     When the judgment of the CSARS v Brummeria Renaissance (Proprietary) Limited & Others 69 [2007] (69 SATC 205) was released in 2007 there wer...

Employees’ Tax 1876. SARS targets employers October 2010 - Issue 134     There has been an increased focus on employees' tax this year.   A special project targeting all SARS Large Business Centre clients’ country wide has ...

Returns 1894. Prescription in the context of e-Filing November 2010 - Issue 135   In terms of section 79(1) of the Income Tax Act No 58. of 1962 (the Act), the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) shall raise an addit...

  Deductions 1953. Excessive expenditure May 2011 - Issue 141     Judgment was recently delivered by Judge Willis in a Tax Court Case (case no. 12262) between the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and ABC (Pty) Ltd (ABC), a wh...

 1927. Renewable energy incentives Certain tax incentives have been introduced to stimulate the growth of renewable energy projects in  South Africa.  In terms of section 12B(1) and (2) of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 (the Act)...

 1927. Renewable energy incentives Certain tax incentives have been introduced to stimulate the growth of renewable energy projects in  South Africa.  In terms of section 12B(1) and (2) of the Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 (the Act)...

  Question A company operates commercial lodges not only on land that it owns but also on land owned by it's 100 % owned subsidiary.The sudsidiary owns land and buildings and it's only debt are shareholde...

  Tax for independent contractors Steven Jones 30 November 2007 Why they're treated so harshly. Dear MoneywebTax I see myself as an independent contractor as I do contract work (project management) for different companies. In the 2007 ...

  Employees and commission-earners Steven Jones 16 February 2009 Stay on the right side of Sars by knowing what you can deduct. Sometimes I think that tax law is a bit schizophrenic.  First you find a section that allows you to ded...

  Taxman will let doctor deduct professional dues Textbook cases I AM a medical doctor working in a state hospital. Where and how do I deduct subscriptions to the Medical Association of SA (Masa), the Medical Protection Society (MP...

TAX AND DISABILITY What are the criteria for being considered a person with a disability? First, ITR-DD must be completed by you (part A) and a registered medical practitioner qualified to express an opinion on your disability. Your m...