Articles & Tips

Here’s a date for your diary - 24th of May, 2024. Now, that’s a rather important date if you hold a 5% or greater stake in a company in South Africa as it’s the last date to register under the newly introduced Beneficial Ownership Register. Failure to register if you should will be seen as a breach of the Companies Act and could result in fines being levied.

So what’s this all about, and what is Beneficial Ownership?

Managing a business involves a lot of responsibilities, with payroll management being one of the most critical. Understanding the intricacies of the payroll system in South Africa is essential for compliance and smooth operations, whether you're a startup or a seasoned business operator.

Here's a simplified breakdown of the payroll process.

As the start of a new tax year approaches, it’s time to shift our focus towards effective tax planning and ensuring a smooth filing process when the time comes.

For South African taxpayers, this means being proactive about retirement annuity contributions and keeping track of important documents as well as remembering to track your travel if you receive a travel allowance.

With filing season typically kicking off in July, now is the perfect time to get organised and stay ahead of the game.

I thought it would be nice to write about something other than tax and year-ends. Yes, they’re important, and yes I’ll continue to write about them, but a change, they say, is as good as a rest. (Personally, I’m not sure about that, but whatevs…)

As thoroughly modern accountants we have wholeheartedly embraced technology, you may have noticed this! In addition to our client-facing systems we use technology ourselves to stay on top of our business.

As the year progresses and you contemplate ways to reward the dedication and hard work of your teams (and perhaps yourselves as directors), gift vouchers emerge as a popular and appreciated token of gratitude.

However, your largesse should also be tempered with an understanding of the tax implications such gestures carry, especially under the regulations of SARS. This guide aims to shed light on these implications, ensuring that your acts of appreciation are both generous and tax compliant 😆.

Thinking about the end of the tax year does tend to induce a sense of mild dread; what will SARS want? When will they want it? Will this ever end?! 😆

While it can feel onerous, there are some things you can do before the end of the tax year which are very much to your benefit, rather than the wellbeing of the tax authorities. One of the biggest of these is topping up your retirement fund or pension fund before the end of the tax year in South Africa (which runs from 1 March to the end of February).

In South Africa, managing a (Pty) Ltd company involves understanding tax obligations and benefits as outlined by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). One of the questions that arise in the realm of tax deductions involves the eligibility of claiming expenses for reading glasses. This blog delves into whether reading glasses can be considered a deductible expense under current South African tax laws for (Pty) Ltd companies.

In South Africa, the rules for deducting travel expenses for directors of small proprietary limited companies (Pty Ltd) are governed by the South African Revenue Service (SARS).  These rules can be quite specific and are subject to change, so it's always best to consult the latest SARS guidelines or a tax professional. However, we can provide a general overview.

Well, that’s Christmas and New Year done, and we’ve all had plenty of time to clear our heads and face up to 2024! So, Happy New Year, and let’s talk about… Tax!

We know - it’s not the most thrilling subject, but a failure to deal with it in a timely manner will guarantee you interesting times as SARS starts asking pointed questions.

So, what are the filing dates for 2024? Fortunately for all of us, these are no secret, SARS posts these on its website, but here’s an extract of the relevant information:

It was lovely having Esmerelda visit the Anlo Financial Solutions Edinburgh office in September. Lots of strategy meetings happened and lots and lots of walking through the beautiful city. If you don’t know, Esmerelda runs the Anlo Financial Solutions Johannesburg office and Annja runs the Anlo Financial Solutions Edinburgh office.

Please see a quick list of expenses to remember which can qualify as a tax deductible. If you have incurred the expenses in your personal capacity, then still let us know about these expenses. If you have the invoice, we can still include it.

Running a business comes with its fair share of expenses and it is important to understand when these expenses can be used against income as a valid business tax deductible expense.

Deducting the right expenses can significantly reduce your taxable income and, consequently, your tax liability.

In this blog, we will look into the deductibility of various business expenses, focusing on repairs and maintenance, entertainment, staff welfare, and gifts.

The introduction of Persons with Significant Control (PSC) regulations by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and the alignment of tax reporting with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is a significant step toward fostering a more transparent and accountable business environment in South Africa.

Business owners and operators need to be aware of their responsibilities under these regulations, including the creation and maintenance of accurate PSC Registers, timely submission of information to the CIPC, and consistent reporting to SARS.

Adherence to these regulations not only ensures compliance with the law but also contributes to the integrity and credibility of the business community in the country.

Happy new tax year our lovely Anlo community. Everyone worked really hard to get all the 2021/2022 tax returns submitted on time as well as the submission of the provisional tax returns that was due end of February.

We start a new tax year, and working towards getting financials and returns calculated early so that we stay on the good side with SARS but also have some time to do some cashflow planning.

If your situation has changed or you have moved or have new contact details, please get in touch so that we can update your details where it is appropriate.

How will you know if you are a provisional taxpayer?

If you earn any other income apart from your salary i.e., consulting fee income, high interest income, capital gains or rental income etc. you should submit a provisional tax return. All entities/companies are registered for provisional tax and provisional tax should be submitted.

The 2nd provisional tax is based on the same accounting period as the August 2022 provisional tax calculation. So, if you had to pay provisional tax in August 2022, you will know if you are a provisional taxpayer.

Written by Roulon du Toit CA (SA)

Both executive directors and non-executive directors (NEDs) may earn income from the companies in which they hold office. However, the tax treatment of these earnings—and the related expenses incurred—vary greatly between these two types of directors.

In 2017, SARS released two Binding General Rulings (numbers 40 and 41) which provided more clarity on the treatment of NEDs.

SARS is doing auto assessments on taxpayers based on the information that they have received from 3rd parties i.e., banks, medical aids, investment companies etc. If this is your only source of income and you don’t have additional deductions, then you don’t have a problem and it is great that your tax return has been filed.

The 2021-2022 tax returns are open and ready to be filed to SARS.

Please send us all your documents as soon as possible if you would like us to file your return.

If you get an auto-assessment from SARS, please don’t just accept it. Read through and make sure you amend the submission before it is too late. Please remember that your auto assessment will not include all the deductions that you are entitled to. If you would like us to check your auto-assessment, please get in contact with us.

Written by Roulon du Toit

A lot of South African taxpayers are unaware that they could reduce their taxable income if they made donations to Public Benefit Organisations. When a South African resident makes a donation, it is important to realise that there are tax consequences which may lead to either an increased tax burden or tax relief.

First, it is important to note that donating may attract a Donations Tax liability. This is something that taxpayers are unaware of and can be quite costly. We will not be exploring this in this blog, but be aware that if you donate cash (or any other asset) there may donations tax, especially if the value exceeds R100 000. For example, if you purchase a car and then transfer ownership to your child it will likely attract Donations Tax.

If you are registered as a company or sole proprietor in South Africa, you can choose to pay either standard small business income tax rates or elect for turnover tax. Turnover tax is a simplified tax rate aimed at reducing administration for small businesses with an annual turnover of less than R1 million. If your turnover goes over R1 million, then you will need to register for VAT and pay tax on the standard tax rates.

You can be registered for turnover tax and also be registered for VAT (voluntary registration).

To make record keeping easier, the turnover tax system automatically estimates a company’s business expenses when calculating taxable income. This means businesses registered for turnover tax don’t need to track and report their tax-deductible expenses.

In May we celebrated Esmeralda’s birthday the Anlo way, with lots of cake, sparkles and love! If you ask her, she is 37 years old but to us, she doesn’t look a day older than 21, but with the wisdom and leadership of a life well lived. Thank you Esi, for everything you do and here is to another wonderful year for you.

We also raised money for slipper day at Anlo and here is a photo.

Annja and Roulon recently went to Accountex in London and it was amazing seeing the new developments that have happened since 2019, when we last visited. Regulations and governing bodies have made compliance for accountants stricter, but the standard of the accounting qualification is just getting better.

Now more than ever, the focus is on accountants helping businesses grow and helping the economy recover from what has been a very long hard period in everyone’s lives.

Esmerelda and I recently took ourselves on a week sabbatical to Dubai with our little girls, and it was AMAZING! Thank you to everyone that was patient with us during this time. We planned this break probably a year ago, with the hope that it will give us something to look forward to, and because of COVID and everything we kind of forgot about it because there was a chance we could not go, and we did not want to get our hopes up.

But we did manage to go, and it was so definitely needed. The break from the routine that has become a burden over the last 2 years was exactly what the doctor ordered. We swam in the sea and talked about the business’s future, about our hopes and dreams for ourselves, our families, and our business.

Written with Roulon du Toit

During the 2020 Budget Review, the government indicated that it intended to decrease the corporate tax rate by one percentage point from 28% to 27%. It has now been confirmed that this decrease will take place, effective for tax years ending on or after 31 March 2023. In other words, this will apply to any company whose tax year commences on or after 1 April 2022.

Thank you to all our valued clients for your support this year. We wish you and your family a happy holiday and an even happier New Year! Please note that both the UK and SA practice will be running with reduced staff from the 16th of December 2021 until the 10th of January 2022.

We would appreciate it if all VAT and payroll runs are completed and submitted before the 16th of December to allow for our clients and staff to have a proper break over the holidays.

Written by Roulon du Toit

The South African corporate income tax rate is scheduled to decrease from 28% to 27% on 1 April 2022. Yipee.

BUT,

To help fund this change, there is a proposed change to the manner in which companies will be able to utilise assessed tax losses that arose in prior tax years.

Written by Roulon du Toit

The South African government intended to reform the laws pertaining to provident funds from March 2015. However, this led to significant objections and protest action from trade unions and the changes were delayed until March 2021.

Hope everyone has a fun October with Halloween right on our doorstep.

Now, you all know how much we love and recommend cloud accounting packages, especially Xero 😁 and they are running a competition to find the ‘Rockstars of accounting’!

So, if like us you think Xero is the best thing since self-toasting bread (no, sadly that’s not a thing) and Anlo have been instrumental in introducing you to Xero, we would really, really really appreciate your vote for us. Entries close on the 10th of December this year and you can nominate us right here