By Jessie Taylor
This month marks the start of the filing season for provisional and non-provisional taxpayers who must file a tax return. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced 15 July 2024 as the start date.
Auto-assessments for an expanded pool of South African taxpayers will run from 1 July 2024 to 14 July 2024, and SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said the tax authority is committed to making filing season for standard taxpayers an invisible process.
“The pool of taxpayers who will be auto-assessed will increase to about 4.8 million this year compared to about 3.8 million taxpayers last year,” SARS said.
Taxpayers are also reminded that while the auto-assessment process offers numerous benefits, it requires due diligence from selected taxpayers. Taxpayers are advised to reconcile the assessment with their tax certificates, bank statements and salary slips.
Taxpayers who are auto-assessed but wish to claim tax rebates must complete their tax return and file it normally.
There are a number of tax breaks that taxpayers can benefit from:
Topping up your retirement annuity as the tax year-end approaches could allow you to maximise your tax-deductible contributions. The limit is currently up to 27.5% of taxable income with an annual cap of R350 000. The tax deduction applies to the cumulative total of all retirement fund contributions.
This benefit works best with retirement annuities that offer flexibility and ad hoc contributions. This will allow taxpayers to calculate the contributions made towards their retirement funds during the year and to leverage the tax deductibility. Retirement annuities that provide significant tax advantages: investment premiums are tax deductible, dividends and interest are tax-exempt, and no capital gains tax applies to investment growth. Retirement annuities also effectively reduce tax on death as the funds held in an RA fall outside of the deceased estate.