SARS assessment/ITA34 review is designed to assist you as corporate taxpayer in making an informed decision in the best interest of your shareholders on whether or not you should accept an assessment issued by SARS (South African Revenue Service) and therefore raise the increased tax liability for accounting purposes.
From an income tax perspective, SARS (South African Revenue Service) generally issues three types of assessments or ITA34’s:
• Original assessments;
• Reduced assessments; and
• Additional assessments.
Original Assessments
In a corporate income tax world, original assessments will in most cases only be incorrect where a taxpayer has inadvertently completed a tax return incorrectly resulting in more/less tax being assessed than what was expected. Correcting these errors are a sensitive exercise and may trigger audits or penalties where a taxpayer does not approach the process with the required finesse and correct strategy.
Contact us to help you assess how to go about correcting an error in a tax return in the most efficient manner.
Reduced Assessments
Reduced assessments often follow a successful objection or request for a reduced assessment. Checking whether SARS (South African Revenue Service) has correctly given effect to your request often involves technical calculations and may even require an appeal where the objection is not fully allowed.
However, determining whether an appeal or another objection is required is a technical question and depends on the grounds raised in your objection as well as the basis on which the objection was only partly allowed. In the case of a further objection, it is likely that the prescribed time periods for lodging and objection have lapsed in which case you will be required to ask for condonation of a late objection. We know what factors SARS (South African Revenue Service) takes into account to consider condoning a late objection.
Contact us to help you assess the correctness of the reduced assessment and whether an appeal of further objection is required.
Additional Assessments
SARS (South African Revenue Service) raises additional assessments in most cases following the outcome of an audit. However, not all additional assessments follow an audit. In most cases the best strategic approach is to ask SARS (South African Revenue Service) for reasons as to why the additional assessment has been raised to allow you as taxpayer to object on the correct grounds.
Contact us today to see how we can assist you in narrowing down the grounds on which you are required to object by identifying the basis on which SARS (South African Revenue Service) raised the additional assessment to be in the best position to secure a successful objection.