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.
Tax
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.
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.
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.
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.
Refundable ‘premium’ sinks taxpayer’s insurance deduction
The High Court finds that most of the payment was a recoverable, interest-bearing deposit rather than expenditure incurred for genuine insurance cover.
SARS draft guide sets out tax implications for crypto transactions
Crypto users may trigger tax consequences through swaps, staking, mining, payments, employment benefits, or donations, even where no rand conversion takes place.
Trust tax filings jump as penalties start to roll out
Trustees face growing pressure to file outstanding returns or formally deregister dormant trusts before penalties escalate.
Data integrity emerges as the new tax risk frontier
Companies are under growing pressure to prove that the figures in returns, financial statements, and supporting documents all tell the same story.
SA closer to advance pricing regime, but thresholds threaten access
The new APA process aims to reduce disputes and double taxation, but practitioners say the entry bar is so high that few groups will qualify.
