Employer Connect Issue 7 (April 2014)

As we have mentioned the Employment Tax incentive (ETI) came into effect on 1 January 2014 to encourage private sector employers to employ young work seekers by providing a tax incentive. Qualifying employers are able to claim the ETI and reduce the amount of Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) payable to SARS.

If you are a qualifying employer who has employed young work seekers under the ETI, make sure you enter the correct amounts for each month.

• The Gross PAYE before the ETI deduction must be completed.
• The Total actual payments after the ETI deduction must be completed.
• The ETI details section is mandatory, if you are claiming the incentive.
• Read all notes provided carefully, while completing the EMP501.

The ETI supporting data must only be submitted when requested by SARS.
For now, the ETI supporting data should not be included in the IRP5/IT3(a) file created by payrolls. The ETI supporting data requirements have been listed in Appendix C of the Business Requirement Specification: PAYE Employer Reconciliation (including the Employment Tax Incentive requirements).

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has thanked employers, traders, taxpayers and other stakeholders for helping SARS to collect R899.7 billion in revenue, which is R0.7 billion above the revised estimate in the 2014 Budget.

The three main revenue contributors for 2013/14 were—

• Personal Income Tax (PIT): total collections were R310.5 billion which were R778 million (0.3%) above the Revised Estimate in the 2014 Budget of R309.7 billion. This is 33.8 billion (12.2%) higher than the R276.7 billion outcome of the previous financial year
• Corporate Income Tax (CIT): total collections were R179.9 billion. This is R1.2 billion (0.7%) above the Revised Estimate in the 2014 Budget of R178.7 billion. This is R19 billion (11.8%) higher than the R160.9 billion outcome of the previous financial year
• Value Added Tax (VAT): total VAT collections were R237.7 billion. This is R1.6 billion (-0.7%) lower than the Revised Estimate in the 2014 Budget of R239.3 billion. This is R22.7 billion (10.6%) higher than the R215 billion outcome of the previous financial year.

The collection of R899.7 billion increases the tax-to-GDP ratio from 25.9% anticipated in the 2014 Budget to 26%. This improvement is still below the 27.6% of GDP in 2007/08. Because of the global financial crisis the tax-to-GDP ratio declined to 24.4 in 2009/10.

SARS introduced an enhanced TCC application process on eFiling and in SARS branches. This is the first step in the phased implementation of a modernised tax compliance process.

How it works

You apply online using our improved online system and collect the certificate at any SARS branch. Alternatively, you can apply at a SARS branch.

You will receive an instantaneous response informing you whether your application for a TCC for tenders or good standing has been approved, declined or selected for review when applying via eFiling or at a SARS branch.

This notification also provides you with immediate feedback as to why a TCC application has been declined.

Note: When you rectify a non-compliance at a SARS branch it could take up to five working days to determine your compliance. The process of issuing a TCC will begin once your compliance status is determined. In instances where taxpayers make payments by cheque to rectify any non-compliance, the consideration for a TCC will be delayed for a period of seven working days to ensure that the cheque is cleared.

Taxpayers should note that where the registered details applied on the TCC do not match with SARS’ records (e.g. the company registration number captured on the application does not match the company registration number on SARS’ records for all the tax reference numbers captured on the application), the TCC applications could be declined and will have to be re-submitted. To avoid these unnecessary delays you must ensure that your registered details are accurate and up-to-date across all the tax types you are registered for at SARS.