When SARS oversteps, how can taxpayers fight back?
Complex legislation, estimated assessments, and collection measures can leave individuals and smaller businesses struggling to challenge SARS effectively.
SARS
Digital assets: three questions advisers need to be asking
Who can advise on digital assets, where can clients move them, and what can SARS see? A practical look at the questions advisers need to understand.
New AI tool helps untangle rules for moving money abroad
The Institute for International Tax and Finance says Clara can indicate when SARS approval may be required and which supporting documents users may need.
14 appear in court over alleged R3.99m VAT refund fraud
The case forms part of Project Jan Vas, a wider investigation into an alleged organised criminal network targeting the tax system across several provinces.
Bank freeze and SARS recovery powers converge in VAT fraud case
The judgment considered Bidvest’s contractual authority to suspend the account separately from SARS’s subsequent use of section 179 of the Tax Administration Act.
SARS separates diesel refunds from VAT system
The standalone system introduces new registration, seller relationships, and record-keeping requirements.
Lawyers urge caution on Tax Court’s eFiling fraud ruling
Two aspects of the judgment could have wider implications in future cases involving credible claims of unauthorised access.
SCA settles uncertainty over deductibility of raising fees
The majority judgment confirms that raising fees can qualify as finance charges similar to interest, potentially reducing the after-tax cost of debt funding.
Trust filing season: Key dates and requirements for the 2026 returns
The enhanced ITR12T will draw on third-party data, while SARS steps up scrutiny of nil returns, passive assets, and assessed losses.
SARS ruling sheds light on offshore trust loans
BPR 430 considers a proposed distribution and set-off of reciprocal loan claims, but its tax outcome is confined to the particular facts presented to SARS.
SARS begins biggest VAT reporting overhaul in decades
The shift to near real-time reporting promises better fraud detection and faster refunds, but businesses face significant technology costs and implementation challenges.
Document checklist falls short in retirement fund withdrawal dispute
The Tribunal found that evidence of tax non-residence must be assessed against the legislation, with clear reasons given when it is considered insufficient.
Draft tax bills target spousal donations and VDP interest relief
Treasury wants to close what it sees as a tax-avoidance route involving emigrating spouses, while proposing a taxpayer-friendly change to voluntary disclosures.
Draft TLAB will settle living annuity commutation rule
The proposal puts SARS’s existing cumulative approach into the Income Tax Act, ending uncertainty over whether the R150 000 limit applies per policy.
Crypto transactions and undeclared holdings face growing scrutiny
Experts say taxpayers with undeclared crypto income should consider voluntary disclosure before enhanced reporting increases the likelihood of a SARS audit.
Dividend-stripping case sharpens the boundaries of legitimate tax planning
The Tax Court has affirmed the choice principle but raised fresh questions about where legitimate tax-efficient structuring ends and impermissible avoidance begins.
Tax uncertainty clouds offshore trust distributions
Practitioners warn that applying section 7(8) to cross-border trust distributions could create onerous and potentially perpetual tax and compliance consequences.
