Deep flaws in SARS’s systems, OTO investigation finds
The Tax Ombud’s draft report on profile hijackings finds evidence of failures in SARS’s fraud prevention, detection, and resolution processes.
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Treasury downplays impact of schools’ forced VAT deregistration
ISASA says there has always been a distinction between exempt (educational) and taxable (commercial) supplies.
What ‘capital’ could be in a CIS capital distribution
A proposed amendment to the Income Tax Act will tax unit trust investors on capital distributions before disposals, without any base cost offset.
Tax amendments under fire for squeezing out revenue at the expense of growth
Industry stakeholders say poorly consulted proposals risk undermining investment, savings, and innovation.
Draft Bill hides a ‘stealth tax’ in your unit trust investments
Proposed amendments could undermine the tax-efficient compounding that makes a collective investment scheme an attractive investment vehicle.
Influencers in the tax net: SARS clarifies approach to digital income
Remuneration extends beyond cash payments – products, services, and travel perks must also be declared as taxable income.
Draft amendments narrow taxpayers’ ‘bona fide inadvertent error’ defence
The proposal restricts the ‘bona fide inadvertent error’ defence under the understatement penalty regime to cases where the tax shortfall is a ‘substantial understatement’.
SA residents face taxation on previously untaxed foreign pension benefits
The amendment treats foreign pension benefits like other residence-sourced income, shifting the retirement planning landscape for South Africans who worked overseas.
Treasury publishes tax changes affecting pensions, trusts, and individuals
In addition to foreign pensions and trust income, the measures affect death benefits, child maintenance, capital distributions by unit trusts, and assessed losses.
VAT-registered schools may face cashflow shock
The proposed blanket exemptions for goods and services supplied by schools will force VAT-registered schools to deregister and lose input-tax recovery.
Sticky VAT thresholds create ‘economic distortion’
Tax specialists say stagnant thresholds have the opposite effect of policy aims – instead of freeing SMEs to scale up, they incentivise remaining under the threshold.
Tax disputes: compliance and the interests of justice trump rigid timelines
The Supreme Court of Appeal found in favour of SARS despite it ignoring a 45-day timeline for more than a year.
SARS: Almost 100% of its auto assessments are accurate
Tax practitioners say the headline statistic may obscure the true extent of incomplete auto assessments.
SCA confirms validity of a tax opinion when it is correct in fact and law
Supreme Court rejects SARS’s argument that the expert’s opinion was tainted by self-interest because of the fee he would earn.
Need for trust and taxpayer support to drive voluntary tax compliance
Despite improvements in taxpayer education and system simplification, low trust in government remains the biggest barrier to voluntary compliance in Africa.
Why few taxpayers report eFiling profile hijackings to the police
Low-income earners fear being ignored, while high-income earners and large businesses find the police to be inefficient.
SARS’s enhanced compliance efforts add R301.5bn to revenue
The South African Revenue Service outperformed its revised estimates for 2024/25, buoyed by strong personal income tax, VAT, and company income tax collections.
