What’s New at SARS

18 November 2021 – The Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Mr Edward Kieswetter, has noted the judgment handed down by the Gauteng High Court in the matter of Arena Holdings and others v SARS and others on 16 November 2021, on the release of information relating to a taxpayer. See the full media release here.

18 November 2021 – On 15 November 2021 SARS published Interpretation Note 28 for public comment. It refers to Draft Issue 3 of Interpretation Note 28 “Deductions of Home Office Expenses Incurred by Persons in Employment or Persons Holding an Office”. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) were published yesterday in support of the Interpretation Note. The FAQs are based on persons in employment who do not earn mainly commission (unless expressly stated otherwise).

For more information, see the Home Office Expenses webpage.

17 November 2021 – High Court Judgments 2022-2020:

• Arena Holdings(Pty) Ltd t/a Financial Mail and Others v CSARS and Others (88359/2019) [2021] ZAGPPHC (16 November 2021)
• Judgment Summary

15 November 2021 – The updated Message Implementation Guideline, CUSDEC – Customs Declaration (Version 29 variant 3), has been published. For more information please see the following webpage: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

• 11 November 2021 – Preferential trade under the AfCFTA is not yet possible as the tariff schedules required are still being negotiated. Once an agreement is reached on the tariff schedules, they will be appended to Annex 1 to the AfCFTA for adoption by the AU Submit. See the letter to Trade.

11 November 2021 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) welcomes the unflinching commitment made by the Minister of Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwana, to fiscal sustainability, enabling long-term growth by narrowing  the budget deficit and stabilising debt, when he presented the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Parliament today.

The Minister added that a fast-growing economy would allow for greater revenue collection, making it possible for a more comprehensive response to the challenges the country faces.

Incoming domestic and global economic indicators point to improving economic prospects after momentum slowed in recent months. This is amidst persistent supply chain disruptions and continued resurgences of COVID-19.  According to the October World Economic Outlook (WEO) report from the International Monetary Policy (IMF), the global economy is projected to grow by 5.9% in 2021 and 4.9% in 2022, 0.1 percentage point lower for 2021 than in the July forecast.

See the full media release here.

11 November 2021 – To assist taxpayers, SARS will host a virtual webinar on Thursday, 18 November 2021 for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), which will provide information on Value- Added-Tax (VAT). When taxpayers have clarity and certainty about their tax obligations, they will be in a better position to be compliant in their tax matters.

The following topics will be covered:

• Registration requirements
• VAT Filing categories
• Payments
• Refunds
• Deregistration

As an important stakeholder, you are invited to join us and you may also extend this invitation to other interested parties.

The details of the event are as follows:

Theme:  Value- Added-Tax
Date: Thursday, 18 November 2021
Time: 17:00 – 19:00
Platforms (Virtual): YouTube https://youtu.be/E8qvYmh3UV0

If you have questions about VAT, please email [email protected]

11 November 2021 – Implementation of Tax Directive Enhancements: It has come to our attention that certain information was not clearly explained in the attached letter issued to you last week. Please find the updated letter explaining the information in paragraph 6 more clearly. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience.

Recently introduced legislation makes provision for SARS to determine the effective rate of tax in respect of the combined employment and/or pension sources of income of a taxpayer, with reference to the latest data available to SARS, and to provide that rate to the retirement fund administrators for purposes of withholding PAYE.  It is the intention to introduce this service with effect from 1 March 2022.  Click here to read more.

10 November 2021 – Customs & Excise Act, 1964

• Draft Amendment to Part 1 of Schedule No. 1 – Super fine maize meal

Due date for public comment: 8 December 2021

10 November 2021 – Tax Administration Act, 2011

• SARSTC 25330; 25331 and 25256 – Whether SARS correctly invoked uniform rule 30; whether SARS has demonstrated prejudice

10 November 2021 – Updated Customs weekly list of unentered goods

9 November 2021 – The Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Mr Edward Kieswetter, told Parliament today that SARS was encouraged by the measured progress in rebuilding SARS as an institution transforming itself into a SMART Modern SARS.  See the full media release here.

10 November 2021 – Value-Added Tax Act, 1991

• Interpretation Note 70 (Issue 2) – Supplies Made for No Consideration

10 November 2021 – Value-Added Tax Act 1991

• Interpretation Note 70 – Supplies Made for No Consideration

10 November 2021 – Customs & Excise Act, 1964

• Goods for Display or Use at Exhibitions, Fairs, Meetings or Similar Events

10 November 2021 – Tax Guide for Small Businesses 2020/2021

9 November 2021 – Tax Administration Act, 2011: Publication of Explanatory Summary of the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill, 2021. The Minister intends to introduce the following Bill in the National Assembly in the near future.

8 November 2021 – New Penalty Rule and Auto-Assessment process: With effect from 1 December 2021, SARS has been empowered to levy a late submission of return penalty where one or more personal income tax returns are outstanding. As a transitional measure for the first year, the one tax return or more rule will only apply to the 2021 tax return.

The deadline for individual non-provisional taxpayers is 23 November 2021. Taxpayers in the auto-assessment population, who neither accepted nor edited and submitted their simulated assessments by this date, will receive an original assessment based on an estimate in accordance with section 95 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011.  This assessment is not subject to objection and appeal. However, a taxpayer who is not in agreement with his or her assessment may file a complete and accurate tax return within 40 business days of the assessment date. Such a return will be late, which means that normal late submission penalties and interest (where applicable) will apply. See the letter to stakeholders for more information. 

To see an example of the reminder SMSs currently being sent, click here.

8 November 2021 – Implementation of Tax Directive Enhancements. Update as on 11 November: It has come to our attention that certain information was not clearly explained in the attached letter issued to you last week. Please find the updated letter explaining the information in paragraph 6 more clearly. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience.

Recently introduced legislation makes provision for SARS to determine the effective rate of tax in respect of the combined employment and/or pension sources of income of a taxpayer, with reference to the latest data available to SARS, and to provide that rate to the retirement fund administrators for purposes of withholding PAYE.  It is the intention to introduce this service with effect from 1 March 2022.  Click here to read more.

8 November 2021 – An upgraded [email protected]™ Employer version 7.2.0 was released. The change is an adjustment to the EMP501 pre-population process to allow special characters, including the single apostrophe ( ‘ ) in the employer name field . See the full release notes here.

To download the latest version of [email protected], click here.