Tax filing season has come and gone for most individual taxpayers; individual taxpayers had until the 31 st of October to file their 2018 tax returns.
However, if you are a provisional taxpayer, the filing season only closes at the end of January 2019 for your 2018 tax return if you file via efiling, notes Daniel Baines, author of How to Get a SARS Refund and tax consultant at Mazars.
Most individuals who are in salaried employment are not provisional taxpayers, however, if one of the following (among others) applies to you, you may be liable for provisional tax:
- You run a side business in addition to your normal job;
- You have a rental property with a taxable income of over R30,000; or
- You earn interest income of over R53,800 in a tax year (if you are under 65).
“If any of the above applies to you, then you need will to register for provisional tax. While this does give you an extra three months to file your annual tax return, it also means that you have to submit provisional tax returns twice a year as well,” Baines said.
A provisional tax return is an estimate of your final taxable income and often results in payments being due to SARS at the end of August and February each year. “It is important to make an accurate provisional tax estimate, otherwise SARS can levy penalties on you,” Baines said.
If you are not a provisional taxpayer but you have not yet filed your tax return, it is a good idea to submit it as soon as possible, he advised. “SARS is entitled to raise late filing administrative penalties if you do not file your annual tax return timeously,” Baines said.
“If you file your tax return late and find that you are liable for late filing administrative penalties, you can request SARS to remit these penalties if you have good reason for the late filing of your return. This request for remission of penalties can be done via efiling.”
