Legal and Policy

SARS:

2 August 2023 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has noted the statement made by Mr. Julius Malema at the recently concluded press conference of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The statement purports that there was a meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and SARS Commissioner Mr. Edward Kieswetter where President Ramaphosa gave Commissioner Kieswetter an instruction to investigate the tax affairs of those that attended and sponsored the EFF Gala Dinner held on 27 July 2023.

Today’s statement was preceded by the statement made by Mr. Malema on Saturday at the EFF rally that SARS is “harassing” his family with a view to find anything unlawful against him for nefarious purpose.

See the full media statement here.

2 August 23 – Be careful of fraudulent email talking about an electronic statement and processed returns.

Please do not click on the phishing link, if in doubt, email phishing@sars.gov.za.

Keep an eye on our Scams examples webpage.

2 August 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendment notice, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relates to the amendments to –

Part 1 of Schedule No. 2, by the insertion of anti-dumping items under 201.02, in order to impose anti-dumping duties against the alleged dumping of frozen bone-in portions of fowls of the species Gallus Domesticus classifiable in tariff subheading 0207.14.9, originating in or imported from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland and Spain – ITAC Report 695.

Publication details will be made available later.

2 August 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964

Uganda CMAA Agreement – date of entry into force is 1 September 2023

1 August 2023 – The pop-up branch schedule for Gauteng South and Western Cape regions, during August until November, are now available.
1 August 2023 – Prohibited and Restricted Imports and Exports list.

Tariff heading 3825.10 requires an Import permit from ITAC.

1 August 2023 – It has been the practice of SARS not to approve the release of funds when resident Trusts make distributions to non-resident Trusts. Following queries in this regard, SARS herewith clarifies its stance on the matter and confirms that it will consider approval for the release of funds/amounts distributed to non-resident Trusts. The process required to obtain the necessary approval is to apply for a manual letter of compliance at SARS by emailing MLCA@sars.gov.za.

SARS has taken note of the fact that the SARB has relaxed certain exchange control requirements but has decided, based on the risks involved, to introduce the above-mentioned requirement to mitigate the risks.

SARS will perform verification processes to ensure that strict interpretation of the relevant sections of the Act are complied with. Note that the non-resident Trust must be a beneficiary of the resident Trust, and the distribution will only be considered by SARS if it complies with the terms and conditions in the Trust instrument of the resident Trust.

SARS will only allow such distributions if the resident Trust demonstrates that all tax liabilities in respect of the distribution were or will be settled.

Also see the Supporting Documents for Approval of International Transfers (AIT) webpage.

1 August 2023 – RFP19/2023: Provision of Graph Database Management Software Tool with Maintenance and Support

Answers to questions raised by bidders are now available.

31 July 2023 – South Africa recorded a preliminary trade balance deficit of R3.5 billion in June 2023, attributable to exports of R167.6 billion and imports of R171.1 billion.

See the full Media Release here.

Or visit the Trade Statistics webpage.

31 July 2023 – The Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has welcomed the order handed down on 26 July 2023 by the Kwa-Zulu Natal Local Division, Durban in which the recalcitrant sole member of Tiar Construction CC (in liquidation) (“Tiar Construction”) was ordered to cooperate with the liquidators in the administration of Tiar Construction’s estate.

The application was instituted by the co-liquidators of Tiar Construction as a last resort to secure the cooperation of the sole member Mr L Marimuthu of the insolvent entity. This was to compel Mr Marimuthu to cooperate with the co-liquidators in the execution of, and to secure compliance with, legal obligations in the winding up of the estate. The issues before the court included the failure of Mr Marimuthu, to disclose the existence of all Tiar Construction’s assets, providing the co-liquidators with all documents and assets relating to the entity, and handing over all documents and assets of the entity.

See the full media statement here.

31 July 2023 – SARS will again provide you an opportunity to test the updated e@syFile™ Employer build before the formal release in mid-September 2023 for the Employer Interim Reconciliation.

The updated e@syFile™ Employer BETA version with enhanced features for download will be released to you on 14 August 2023. See the Business Requirements Specification here – SARS_PAYE_BRS – PAYE Employer Reconciliation_V22.1.1 for the Employer Interim Reconciliation submission period 202308.

During the testing period from 14 August 2023 to 6 September 2023, all online functionality will be disabled to prevent the incorrect submission of test data into the production environment. This means the application will default to offline mode. Certain menu options will also be disabled as a precautionary measure.

Enhancements will include:

Minor amendments to source code validations.

A separate read-only IRP5/IT3(a) certificate that can be issued to employees.

You will be provided with a link in a follow up letter which will allow you access for testing purposes. Please note that this link is confidential and only available to selected individuals. In order to maintain its confidentiality, please exercise caution and do not share it with others.

SARS will analyse the feedback from the external testers during the test cycle. Please nominate a contact person to act as liaison and provide the person’s contact details to SARS.

Your consolidated feedback should be sent daily to the following persons:

Michelle Welgemoed (mwelgemoed@sars.gov.za) and Charlene Hoosen (CHoosen@sars.gov.za) who will log it with the relevant SARS development team to update the software. SARS will use the feedback to determine the frequency at which updated versions of the test software will be released, where necessary.

Thank you for assisting SARS with the testing of the application.

31 July 2023 – National Legislation: National Treasury and SARS publish the following documents for public comment:

Media Statement – Publication of the 2023 Draft Tax Bills and Regulations

2023 draft Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill
2023 draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill
Draft Explanatory Memorandum on the 2023 draft TLAB;
Draft Memorandum on the Objects of the 2023 draft TALAB for public comment and introduction in Parliament
Draft amendments to Regulations in terms of paragraph (e) of the definition of “Research and Development” in section 11D(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1962, on criteria for clinical trials in respect of deduction for research and development
Draft amendments to Regulations on domestic reverse charge relating to valuable metal in terms of 74(2) of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (the VAT Act)
Draft Explanatory Memorandum on domestic reverse charge relating to valuable metal in terms of 74(2) of the VAT Act

Due date for comment: 31 August 2023

28 July 2023 – The tax workshop schedules for Gauteng North during August are now available.

28 July 2023 – The latest Government Connect Issue 11 Newsletter is now available. This issue includes information on the 2023 Filing season for individuals and trusts, Corporate income tax form and system changes, training interventions for Municipalities conducted by SARS and National Treasury and the latest Scams.
28 July 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendment notice R3735, as published in Government Gazette 49047 of 28 July 2023, are now available.
28 July 2023 – RFI02/2023: Integrated Strategic Sourcing and Purchasing Solution (eTendering and ePurchasing)

The questions and answers document no 2 and questions and answers document no 3 are now available.

28 July 2023 – Achieving our Vision 2024 of a smart, modern SARS with unquestionable integrity that is trusted and admired is of paramount importance. Pivotal to the delivery of our vision are our digital platforms & technology infrastructure. In order to provide clarity & certainty, make it easy for taxpayers & traders to comply with their obligations and building public trust and confidence, our technology assets have to demonstrate the highest levels of availability, robustness and security.
Pursuant to our Vision and Strategic Objectives, which include modernising our systems to provide Digital and Streamlined online services, we are hard at work ensuring that our digital platforms & technology infrastructure are available, robust & secure, by performing regular upgrades, enhancements, and maintenance.

In light of the above, eFiling may be intermittently unavailable on Saturday 29 July 2023 from 05:00 until 08:00 in the morning.

28 July 2023 – The latest Tax Practitioner Connect Newsletter Issue 44 is available. This issue includes information on changes for the 2023 Filing season for Individuals and Trusts, Corporate Income Tax form and system changes, managing tax compliance matters, the importance of managing updated registration information across all tax products and the latest scam alerts.
27 July 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendment notice, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relates to the amendments to –

Part 1 of Schedule No. 2, by the insertion of anti-dumping items under 207.02 in order to impose anti-dumping duties against the alleged dumping of new pneumatic tyres of rubber of a kind used on motor cars, buses or lorries classifiable in tariff heading 40.11, originating in or imported from the People’s Republic of China – ITAC Report 714.

Publication details will be made available later.

27 July 2023 – Tax Administration Act, 2011

Trustees of the CC Share Trust and Others v CSARS (38211/21) [2023] ZAGPPHC 597 (24 July 2023)

Whether the applicants had been correctly assessed by SARS – whether the assessments may be set aside because they were unlawfully made for want of compliance by SARS with its own statutes – whether the Commissioner ought to withdraw the assessments.

27 July 2023 – SARS invites you to a webinar on Traders’ Rights today on Thursday, 27 July, with the Office of the Tax Ombudsman and the Border Management Agency.

SARS recognises the importance of the Small Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) traders and their significant contribution to the South African economy. Our strategic objectives include providing taxpayers and traders with clarity and certainty, as well as making it simple for them to meet their tax obligations. The aim of the webinar is to educate customs cross-border traders about their rights, and the channels to follow when their rights have not been upheld.

Examples of challenges that may infringe SMME traders’ rights can be unfair penalties, being asked for bribes and the lack of adherence to the SARS Service Charter turnaround times by SARS Customs officials, etc.

Other challenges may include the inability of female traders to conduct their business without sexual harassment and victimisation.

As an important stakeholder, we invite you to join this webinar, and to extend this invitation to other interested parties.

The details of the event are as follows:

Theme: Traders Rights Webinar

Date: Thursday, 27 July 2023
Time: 10:00-12:00
Platforms: Zoom and YouTube

https://sars-gov-za.zoom.us/s/97607806001?pwd=dE0rOVBac1dPbVdCQjlpb0NzTjhSdz09

Meeting ID: 976 0780 6001

Passcode: 947755

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to log on to the webinar. The webinar will be recorded and posted on the SARSTV YouTube channel after the event.

YouTube:

https://youtube.com/live/L53nLSlviac?feature=share

To view the presentation click here.

NATIONAL TREASURY: