INCOME TAX
Time to get our
tax affairs in order The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is currently on a major tax compliance drive and taxpayers and their practitioners are feeling the pressure. However, system failures, delays with refunds and communication overload, then sudden cessation, are causing frustration for taxpayers, tax practitioners and SARS alike, says Phillip Joubert, Manager for the Centre for Tax Excellence at SAIPA. The 2021 tax year has come to an end, and it truly does seem that SARS will continue throwing us curveballs, with a number of changes predicted to be implemented in the upcoming filing season. Until that is confirmed, practitioners will need to remain diligent and agile in their engagements with both SARS and their clients. Taxpayers have to get into the habit of keeping their supporting documents and to provide them
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well in advance of the submission date for tax returns. SARS is relying more and more on third party data and tax practitioners need to know their clients in order to pick up any data anomalies. This can prevent understatement penalties and other issues later. It is also up to the tax practitioner to train their clients on best practice, as this will save all parties from a lot of frustration in the future.