Industry updates | June 2022
Please take note of the following industry updates that may be relevant to you and your business.
COMPLIANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
Due dates for reporting and payments- June 2022:
TAX ADMINISTRATION
1. Filing Season 2022, deadlines being promulgated- NB
The public notice specifying the persons who must submit income tax returns for the 2022 year of assessment and the submission deadlines was published on the SARS website issued on 26 May 2022.
The Filing Season for 2022 will open on 1 July 2022 and the following deadlines for submission will apply to individual taxpayers:
• 24 October 2022 if the return is submitted electronically through the assistance of a SARS official at a SARS office or manually;
• 24 October 2022, if the return relates to a non-provisional taxpayer and, is submitted by using the SARS e-Filing platform; and
• 23 January 2023 if the return relates to a provisional taxpayer and is submitted by using the SARS e-Filing platform.
2. New functionality to verify Third-Party data
On 25 April 2022, in anticipation of the Filing Season 2022 and to promote the accuracy of pre-populated information in income tax returns, SARS announced the implementation of new functionality on e-Filing.
The new functionality enables taxpayers to view and query their third-party data certificates submitted by third-party providers. The third-party data includes amongst others, medical aid certificates, investment income certificates, and employment IRP5/IT3(a) certificates.
From 4 June 2022, taxpayers and tax practitioners can view and query third-party data submitted to SARS in respect of the 2022 year of assessment via e-Filing or the SARS MobiApp. Should an employer or third-party data provider have not submitted their reconciliations by 3 June 2022, it is possible that the data on e-Filing may not be comprehensive.
The closing date for third-party data submissions for the 2022 year of assessment was 31 May 2022. After the closing date, taxpayers, tax practitioners, and registered representatives are encouraged to utilise the abovementioned functionality to verify the third-party data prior to the commencement of the Filing Season 2022 on 1 July 2022.
The SARS external guide provides guidance on how taxpayers can view and query their third-party data certificates. The following users can view, and query third-party data submitted to SARS via e-Filing:
• Individual users with an e-Filing profile that has activated their tax type.
• Tax practitioners registered with SARS with a confirmed status or users with a delegated tax practitioner right. The related taxpayer should also have an activated tax type as part of their portfolio.
• Registered representatives as associated user to a taxpayer on their portfolio, and in their capacity as a registered representative that has administrator rights.
Third-party certificates can be selected according to certificate type and respective year of assessment. The following third-party data is available:
• IRP5/IT3(a) – Employment taxes/remuneration
• IT3(b) – Income/transactional movements
• IT3(b) – Withholding tax on interest
• IT3(c) – Buy/sell financial instruments
• IT3(e) – Buy/sell livestock, produce etc
• IT3(f) – Retirement annuity/insurance
• IT3(f) – Medical
• IT3(s) – Tax free investment
If no certificate is found, an error message will be displayed. Taxpayers who are not in agreement with a specific third-party certificate have the option to query the data reflecting on e-Filing. The following query options are available to a taxpayer:
• Certificate not for me/the taxpayer
• Duplicate certificate
• Financial value incorrect
• Other – editable text box
It should be noted that to resolve the query regarding the certificates, the taxpayer must also notify the relevant third-party data provider of the query.
3. ALL trusts must be registered with SARS for income tax purposes
On 27 May 2022, SARS issued a media release to advise representative taxpayers of trusts of their duty to register trusts for income tax purposes.
Trusts are included in the definition of a “person” in section 1 of the Income Tax Act, and the trustees or representative taxpayers have a responsibility to register all trusts for income tax purposes.
The following trusts must register and submit annually an income tax return:
• All local trusts, whether active or dormant;
• Non-resident trusts that are effectively managed in the Republic of South Africa; and
• Non-resident trusts that derive income from a South African source.
- Domonique Ramos | 06 June 2022