What’s New at SARS

1 November 2022 – SARS is conducting roadshows in the regions to assist traders to onboard onto the electronic Registration, Licensing and Accreditation (RLA) eFiling system. Onboarding to the RLA system will reduce manual processing that would, at times, cause delays. The regional roadshows will provide traders the opportunity to have physical interactions with SARS’ Registration, Licensing and Accreditation officers, who will support traders to activate their eFiling profiles and navigate the RLA eFiling system by submitting an application themselves.

Traders in the Free State are now invited to visit the SARS Maseru office any day from 14 – 18 November 2022. Slots are daily from 9:00 – 10:00, 11:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 14:00. This will be the last leg of regional roadshows for 2022, and traders are encouraged to continue using the self-registration option on eFiling.

Venue:

• • SARS Maseru Bridge Boardroom
  • N12 Road
  • Ladybrand
  • Free State

For more information on Registration, Licensing and Accreditation, see the RLA webpage.

1 November 2022 – The SARS Annual Report 2021-2022 has been published. See the Annual Reports & Strategic Plans webpage here or the direct link to the report – SARS Annual report 2021-2022.

31 October 2022 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Draft Interpretation Note – Exemption of income relating to South African ships used in international shipping

Due date for comment: 9 December 2022

31 October 2022 – Value-Added Tax Act, 1991

• Draft Binding General Ruling – Value-added tax treatment of rounding difference in cash transactions

Due date for comment: 2 December 2022

31 October 2022 – SARS today releases trade statistics for September 2022 recording a preliminary trade balance surplus of R19.70 billion attributable to exports of R191.56 billion and imports of R171.86 billion.

See the full Media Release for September 2022 here.

31 October 2022 – The latest scam is a ‘PayFast’ SMS is asking unsuspecting taxpayers to click on a link to receive a payment from SARS. Please ignore and do not click on any links. To see all currently known scams, visit our Scams and Phishing webpage.

31 October 2022 – Binding Private Rulings

• Binding Private Ruling 386 – Share disposal between two employee share incentive trusts
• Binding Private Ruling 385 – Use of preference share proceeds to fund employee share ownership plan

31 October 2022 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Binding Class Ruling 083 – Simultaneous unbundling of shares held in more than one listed company

31 October 2022 – The October 2022 issue of the Tax Practitioner Connect newsletter is now available. See the latest edition for news on the Employer interim reconciliation declarations, enhancements to the Tax Directive process and more.

31 October 2022 – The October 2022 issue of the Government Connect newsletter is now available.

29 October 2022 –  Third Party Data Returns are due on Monday, 31 October 2022, that includes the associated data files and correlating declarations [Data Types: IT3(b), IT3(c), IT3(s), MED, INS].

Important to note, submissions are not complete until declarations are submitted via eFiling that ensures your data files are reconciled via the respective Third Party Data Returns.

Third Party Data Providers are urged to make timely submissions, as incomplete, late or non-submissions may be liable for penalties and would impact your respective clients.

It is encouraging to convey that 88% of the required Third Party Data submissions have been receipted.

We would like to thank those Third Party Data Providers that made their submissions well in advance of the due date.

Should you experience any challenges while making your submissions, you are welcome to contact us by emailing SARS Third Party Data Support ([email protected]).

For more information, see the Third Party Submission Platform webpage

28 October 2022 – Tax workshops for North West province during November.

28 October 2022 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Binding Private Ruling 384 – Cession to special trust of the beneficiary’s loan account

27 October 2022 – National Legislation: The Minister of Finance introduced the following Bills in the National Assembly on 26 October 2022:

• Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill [B25—2022]
• Taxation Laws Amendment Bill [B26—2022]
• Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill [B27—2022]

27 October 2022 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Binding Private Ruling 383 – Transfer of profits for group tax purposes between controlled foreign companies

27 October 2022 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Binding Class Ruling 082 – Deductibility of mining rehabilitation insurance premiums

27 October 2022 – The Manage Diesel Refund Calculations Policy has been revised to include:

• All criteria that a prospective claimant must meet to qualify for a diesel refund;
• The refund calculation prescribed in Rebate Item 670.04 of Schedule 6;
• Information needed to complete Part C of the VAT201;
• Steps to follow where the implementation date of the new rates fall within the tax period; and
• Calculation examples.

The extent of the rebate of the General Fuel and Road Accident Fund levies has been deleted from the document as it is readily available in Schedule 6.  The path to the current and historic rates has been included.

27 October 2022 – Millions of rands worth of illegal or illicit goods were confiscated in several joint operations conducted through coordinated efforts within SARS over the past month. 

•  An intelligence-driven operation between enforcement teams within SARS and the SA Police Service (SAPS) took place on 25 October 2022 relating to the prevention and detection of cross-border smuggling and Customs and Excise non-compliance in the cigarette and tobacco industry.

SARS Enforcement Teams deployed to the East Rand in Gauteng and supported by the SAPS, found a truck offloading raw tobacco, allegedly imported from Zimbabwe, at a warehouse. The team also found a substantial number of boxes with raw tobacco, which had been previously delivered to the warehouse. 

It was further established that the tobacco, which was destined for a Bonded Warehouse, had been illegally diverted to an unregistered warehouse. This is in contravention of the Customs and Excise Act. 

The Joint Enforcement Teams conducted a full inspection, and the following goods were detained for further investigation:

o   472 boxes of raw tobacco with a Customs value of R10 919 000 (Incl. duties & Vat)

o   Truck transporting the raw tobacco boxes to the value of R2 500 000.

See the full media statement here.

27 October 2022 – The PAYE BRS for Employer Reconciliation was updated. The PAYE BRS for Employer Reconciliation version 21 2 is now published (previous version was 21 1). The changes are:

• • Relaxed the validations for email addresses and
  • Amended the description for the Fixed Rate Indicator.

See more information on the PAYE webpage:

Business Requirement Specifications (BRS) and timelines

26 October 2022 – Due to ongoing maintenance, eFiling may be intermittently unavailable on Friday, 28 October 2022, between 18:00 and 23:00. Our apologies for any inconvenience.