As South African households continue to feel the squeeze of rising living costs in the form of food, fuel, electricity, and education while salary increases remain modest or non-existent, the pressure is mounting on employers to offer more value without increasing spend.
For many taxpayers, especially expatriates, managing South African tax obligations from a distance can be complicated. Years may pass without any direct interaction with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), and key details like contact information, banking details, and tax number status often become outdated.
Cross-border tax experts, pension fund administrators and foreign retirees in South Africa, have called on National Treasury to reassess the proposed removal of the foreign pension tax exemption. They warn it could trigger socio-economic fallout and deter individuals from relocating or returning to South Africa after years abroad.
The South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) longstanding tolerance of delayed or omitted trust submissions may soon come to an end, with administrative penalties and increased oversight on the horizon. The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) formally reported to members that SARS advised of its intention to start levying administrative non-compliance penalties on the […]
The 2025 trust filing season (20 September 2025 to 19 January 2026) opened against a new backdrop: the updated trust income tax return (ITR12T) now includes compliance questions that change how trusts disclose income and beneficiaries to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
SARS are leveraging their powers under the Tax Administration Act, which provides for instances in which the Directors, Public Officers, or other representative taxpayers, can be held personally liable for a company’s tax debt!
SARS are leveraging their powers under the Tax Administration Act, which provides for instances in which the Directors, Public Officers, or other representative taxpayers, can be held personally liable for a company’s tax debt!
What you think you know about tax when coming out of university changes quickly once you step into a top tax practice. Within the first few weeks on the job, I realised academic knowledge could only take me so far; the real depth begins in practice, far beyond what the lecture hall prepares you for. […]
For years, taxpayers and their advisors have relied on a small phrase in the Tax Administration Act (TAA) as a defence against understatement penalties, which can run up to 200 percent of the shortfall between what taxpayers declared and the revised assessment. But that lifeline is now on the chopping block.
South African seafarers, whose careers on cruise ships, geographical vessels or fishing vessels often take them across international waters, are currently experiencing a significant shift in how the South African Revenue Service (SARS) approaches their tax obligations. What was once a relatively straightforward process is now marked by intensified audits, refined questioning, and a request […]