Legal and Policy -16 February 2023
Description
SARS:
- 14 February 2023 – In order to comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) requirements, SARS aims to record all beneficial owners of newly registered Trusts. The Trust Registration query on SARS Online Query System has been enhanced to allow for the capturing of the beneficial owner’s details. For more information, see the updated Guide for the SARS Online Query System.
- 14 February 2023 – Tax Court Judgments
SARSTC IT 45997 (ADM) ZATC JHB (29 December 2022)
SARSTC 2022/12 (ADM) [2022] JHB (21 December 2022)
Summaries are available on the Tax Court Judgments page
- 14 February 2023 – In our endeavour to make it easy for taxpayers and traders to fulfil their obligations whilst ensuring that our digital platforms are safe and secure, we conduct regular maintenance and enhancements to improve the experience.
Considering this, we have a planned maintenance period on Friday, 17 February 2023 from 20:00 until 06:00 on Saturday morning during which time eFiling and MobiApp will be unavailable.
We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused.
- 14 February 2023 – We are aware of connection issues with Live Chat on eFiling. Our technical team is in the process of resolving it. Our apologies for the inconvenience.
- 13 February 2023 – Individual provisional taxpayers are required to submit their second provisional tax return (IRP6) before or on 28 February 2023. This is for the tax year 2023, which runs from 1 March 2022 to 28 February 2023.
Two provisional tax returns are required from individual provisional taxpayers during a tax year: one for the first six-month period (due end of August) and one at the end of the tax year (due end of February).
Who is a provisional taxpayer: A provisional taxpayer is any person who receives income or to whom income accrues other than remuneration, an allowance, or an advance. If you have other sources of income above your salary that meet the requirements for provisional tax, you may be a provisional taxpayer. Important note: earning extra income does not automatically make you a Provisional taxpayer. Your income must meet the requirements for provisional tax for you to qualify as a provisional taxpayer.
Submission requirements: In relation to the second period, as a provisional taxpayer, you are required to estimate your taxable income for the full tax year and submit a provisional tax return, together with payment where applicable (after having considered any provisional tax payment made in the first period and any employees’ tax paid for the tax year). Click here to calculate the provisional tax payable.
How to file: Activate your provisional tax status on your eFiling profile by selecting the ‘User’ and ‘Tax Products’ tabs. Once activated, select the ‘Returns’ tab to access your provisional tax (IRP6) return.
For more info, see the Provisional Tax webpage.
- Webinar on Tax Directives – Reminder
13 February 2023 – Invitation to a webinar on Tax Directives
SARS will host a webinar on Tax Directives to assist taxpayers to comply with their tax obligations.
A tax directive is an official instruction from SARS to a taxpayer’s employer or fund manager to deduct tax at a set rate, determined by SARS. This directive ensures that a fair tax rate is paid on your earnings, especially for larger or irregular payments. An approved tax directive is only valid for the tax year or period that it was applied for.
The following topics will be covered:
- Types of Tax Directives
- Type of Tax Directives by Tax Practitioners on behalf of Individuals and Employers
- Tax Directive application process
- Timelines for the Tax Directives applications
- Tax Directive updates/ changes
- Access to Tax Directives via eFiling
Taxpayers have the right to lodge a dispute when they are not in agreement with an assessment. The aim of this webinar is to educate taxpayers about their rights and obligations relating to the dispute process.
The following topics will be covered:
- Definition of the dispute process and the types of disputes that exist.
- Time frames for different disputes to be lodged
- What channels are available for the various dispute processes
- The timelines in which disputes and appeals are finalised.
- What is Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)?
- Common errors that lead to rejection of disputes and delay the dispute process.
The details of the webinar are as follows:
Date: Thursday, 16 February 2023
Time: 17:00-19:00
YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/CrjDUA3Tzm0?feature=share
- 10 February 2023 – Value-Added Tax Act, 1991
Binding General Ruling 28 (Issue 3) – Electronic services: Specific requirements relating to credit and debit notes, exchange rates, and advertised or quoted prices
Title expanded to include “Specific requirements relating to credit and debit notes, exchange rates, and advertised or quoted prices”
- 10 February 2023 – Value-Added Tax Act, 1991
Binding General Ruling 28 (Issue 2) – Electronic Services
- 10 February 2023 – We are aware of technical issues affecting a number of our digital services. Our technical teams are hard at work to resolve these and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.
- 10 February 2023 – Customs & Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendment notice R3021, as published in Government Gazette 48013 on 10 February 2023, are now available.
- 10 February 2023 – The Clarification document for AEOI (FATCA) Reporting TIN Codes was updated. The purpose of this document is to clarify the application of the supplied codes for the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) data fields for FATCA submissions. This version 3 was updated to align with the IRS Notice 2023-11. See the Automatic Exchange of Information webpage.
- 10 February 2023 – A survey will be distributed to a selected group of traders. On the Current Surveys, SMSs and emails webpage, see an extract of the cover letter for confirmation that it’s legit and not a scam. The survey will run from 13 – 28 February 2023.
- 9 February 2023 – The IT3(d) Business Requirement Specification (BRS) document has been published which sets out the manner in which S18A third party information should be submitted to SARS and in preparation for the early adopters phase in April 2023.
Please feel free to send queries and comments regarding the BRS and implementation of the IT3(d) to TEISegment@sars.gov.za.
- 9 February 2023 – Customs & Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendment notice, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relates to the –
Imposition of provisional payments in relation to anti-dumping duties against the alleged dumping of windscreens for vehicles, classifiable in tariff subheading 7007.21.20, originating in or imported from the People’s Republic of China – ITAC Report No. 707 (up to and including 9 August 2023).
Publication details will be made available later
- 9 February 2023 – The list of approved venture capital companies has been updated with the following changes:
Change of name – Anuva Investments (Pty) Ltd changed to Anuva Investments Ltd; and
Withdrawal of s12J registration – Imvelo Ventures (Pty) Ltd submitted request to withdraw s12J registration on 6 December 2022.
- 9 February 2023 – Tax Administration Act, 2011
Lance Dickson Construction CC v CSARS (A211/2021) [2023] ZAWCHC 12 (31 January 2023)
Understatement penalty: Whether the Tax Court, having found that SARS had failed to establish that the taxpayer’s understatement of its taxable income resulted from a failure to take reasonable care completing its return, was nonetheless entitled to impose a 25% penalty, SARS having failed to plead a case for the imposition of a penalty on any ground other than the one it failed to prove.
- 9 February 2023 – Exchange Control Regulations of the Currency and Exchanges Act, 1933
Exchange Control Regulations of the Currency and Exchanges Act, 1933 – Legal consequences of a forfeiture order issued in terms of Regulation 22B after the winding-up of a company – liquidation does not nullify a prior blocking order in respect of company’s assets issued in terms of Regulation 22A and/or 22C – issuance of the blocking order and forfeiture order does not render the South African Reserve Bank a creditor of the insolvent company – forfeiture order competent.
OECD:
- New toolkit to strengthen the effective collection of value added taxes on e-commerce in Africa - 15 February 2023
- Armenia commits to start automatic exchange of financial account information by 2025 - 15 February 2023
- Global Forum’s capacity-building activities to support tax transparency deliver impactful results - 13 February 2023
- New OECD Forum to help optimise global emissions reductions through data sharing, mutual learning and dialogue - 10 February 2023
AFTAF:
- OP-ED: Mainstreaming gender into tax policy discussions – 14 February 2023
SARB:
| Date | 16 February 2023 |
|---|