April Newsletter
/This is Anlo’s April Newsletter. If you would like to receive our newsletter, which has lots of great tips and updates, please add your email to the list! Simply subscirbe by filling out the form.
How Anlo is working
We are still here!
We are all currently working from home so if you need anything or want to contact us, our phones are working but as we are working from home we are coping with additional challenges, like our kids being around or trying to conduct home schooling!
The best way to get hold of us, without potential distractions, is probably through email.
If you do call and we don’t answer straight away, please leave a message and thank you for being patient. We are probably learning about the body or helping a little person with a music lesson. We will get back to you as soon as possible because our clients are important to us.
We are having lots of Zoom and Teams meetings and we are finding it to be very useful.
ANLO Training 01: What Every Accountant Should Know
We have been playing with this idea for months and like many business, we have been catapulted into implementing investing some time into this.
Our aim with Anlo Academy is to provide a customised training/support for clients according their needs. By using Teams and Zoom we can now do this from anywhere in the world 😊
We have moved a lot of clients over to Xero over the past year, and we are so glad we did because this is making it much easier to service our clients through this lock down period.
If you would like to find out how to move your accounting online or know someone that is struggling, please put them in contact with us.
We have successfully helped a new client recently move to Xero and our lovely Irelene is giving them some training.
President Speech - A summary of the things applicable to our clients:
SDL Relief - From 1 May 2020, there will be a four-month holiday for skills development levy contributions (1 per cent of total salaries) to assist all businesses with cash flow. We think this means that you still need to pay it but only pay it later. We don’t have any clarity on this yet but we will keep everyone updated.
Fast-tracking of value-added tax (VAT) refunds: Smaller VAT vendors that are in a net refund position will be temporarily permitted to file monthly instead of once every two months, thereby unlocking the tax refund faster and immediately helping with cash flow. SARS is working towards having its systems in place to allow this in May 2020 for Category A vendors that would otherwise only file in June 2020. We will keep clients informed as we know more. Category A is an odd choice. It’s still not very clear how this will help anyone but we will keep our clients informed.
An increase in the expanded employment tax incentive amount: The first set of tax measures provided for a wage subsidy of up to R500 per month for each employee that earns less than R6,500 per month. This amount will be increased to R750 per month.
An increase in the proportion of tax to be deferred and in the gross income threshold for automatic tax deferrals: The first set of tax measures also allowed tax compliant businesses to defer 20 per cent of their employees’ tax liabilities over the next four months (ending 31 July 2020) and a portion of their provisional corporate income tax payments (without penalties or interest). The proportion of employees’ tax that can deferred will be increased to 35 per cent and the gross income threshold for both deferrals will be increased from R50 million to R100 million.
Case-by-case application to SARS for waiving of penalties: Larger businesses (with gross income of more than R100 million) that can show they are incapable of making payment due to the COVID-19 disaster, may apply directly to SARS to defer tax payments without incurring penalties. Similarly, businesses with gross income of less than R100 million can apply for an additional deferral of payments without incurring penalties.
Increasing the deduction available for donations to the Solidarity Fund: The tax-deductible limit for donations (currently 10 per cent of taxable income) will be increased by an additional 10 per cent for donations to the Solidarity Fund during the 2020/21 tax year.
No relief has been provided for the deferral of the submission of returns and payments (other than those mentioned below) for any taxpayers. This is particularly pertinent in respect of VAT, meaning that all VAT returns and payments must be made on time to prevent interest and penalties from being incurred.
Any late submission of returns or late payment of taxes will attract the normal interest and penalties (generally a 10% late payment penalty, and in respect of provisional tax, an underestimation penalty of 20% might also be applicable).
Section 218 of the TAA provides that penalties may be remitted in exceptional circumstances, if the taxpayer was incapable of complying with the relevant obligation under the relevant Tax Act.
Temporary Employer Relief Scheme - TERS application
Our own superwomen Simone has been helping businesses apply for the TERS fund with success. I will be honest, it was not an easy road. But with a lot of perseverance and resilience she is getting there.
The South African Institute for Tax Practioners have made this really useful video on how to apply for the TERS fund
If you would like to find out more or would like us to assist you, please get in touch.
Signing off Audits in this period
The Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors have also advised that we need to take extreme care when signing off audits in this period due to the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on companies and their operations including their reporting which in turn will impact the auditors. IRBA reminded auditors that they need to perform high quality audits and that the auditing standards and ethical requirements should be upheld
In the current circumstances, additional time may be required to complete audits, even if the entity's reporting deadlines need to be extended. It is therefore important that auditors communicate with their clients on a timely basis any impediments to completing the audits, reporting issues and/or risks to the achievement of deadlines.
While stakeholders rely on trustworthy information provided by audited entities, the COVID-19 crisis means that the basis on which entities are planning and reporting is changing rapidly. Therefore, it is important that entities give due consideration to these present challenges in preparing their financial statements and disclosures.
We might have to delay signing off audits until we can comfortably perform our audit procedures.
Business Financial Support
SAFT (South African Future Trust) has partnered with most banks to offer relief to qualifying SME’s. Refer to your bank’s website or phone your banker to find out if your bank provides this service and how to apply. SAFT is an independent trust set up by Nicky and Jonathan Oppenheimer to extend direct financial support to the employees of SMMEs.
PLEASE NOTE: This is not a loan for business but financial support for employees and is paid directly to the employee. However, the employer needs to apply for this support on behalf of their employees.
We have identified that Investec offers this service and it seems to be working smoothly.
Business Loans
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Payment Scheme has been set-up by Standard Bank:
offers payment relief for three months for loans with standard bank
payment is deferred for entities with turnover of less than R20 million per annum
automatically applied
SMME Debt Relief Finance Scheme
Administered by Department of Small Business Development
It will provide soft-loan funding for a period of 6 months, from 1 April 2020
providing relief on existing debts and payments
and assist in paying labour and operational costs.
Register online at smmesa.go.za
Watch out for fake emails that are trying to scam you
Things to watch out for:
Your bank / SARS will NEVER send you an email with a link or attachment that will redirect you to what looks like a Login page.
Your bank / SARS will NEVER phone and ask you for your username and password
Your bank / SARS will NEVER phone and ask you for your card number and PIN
Your bank / SARS will NEVER ask you for your One Time PIN (OTP)
Be suspicious if the process to conduct a transaction differs from the normal process.
What should you do?
Never reply to these emails, and don’t click on any links.
Never navigate to your banking site using a link from an email — always type in the address
Delete spam emails immediately. Even a request to remove your email address from the mailing list will confirm to the fraudsters that your email account is active, and could open you up to more attacks.
Use the latest browsers which come with filters that alert you when you visit a website that is potentially unsafe.
ALWAYS be alert, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is
ALWAYS be safe rather than sorry
