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Tax Season 2020 will cover personal income tax for individuals for the year from 1 March 2019 to 29 February 2020.

Filing Season 2020 opens on 1 September 2020 on SARSefiling

This letter summarises the following relevant information:

Detail	Page Number
SARS submission deadlines & Most common supporting documentation	1
Forms to be completed by each client (every year and when applicable)	2
Tips on your tax affairs, including documentation to retain	3 & 4
Relevant Fees (for income tax return submission & notice of objection)	4 & 5

To ensure that we will have sufficient time to complete and submit your income tax return, all information and documentation should reach us no later than Monday, 2 November 2020. We do, however, urge you to send your documentation as soon as possible and not wait until November 2020.

Important Dates:

• During August 2020, SARS may in certain instances issue an auto-assessment that the taxpayer may choose to accept or decline. Upon acceptance, this is then the SARS Assessment for the tax year. If declined, the taxpayer (or with the help of his / her appointed tax practitioner) will need to submit a tax return during the filing season period.
• 1 September 2020 – Start of Tax Filing Season for Individuals through SARSefiling
• 1 August 2019 – Start of Tax Filing Season for Individuals at SARS branches
• 22 October 2020 – End of Tax Filing Season for Individuals (Non-Provisional Taxpayers at SARS branches)
• 16 November 2020 – End of Tax Filing Season for Individuals (Non-Provisional Taxpayers through SARSefiling)
• 29 January 2021 – End of Tax Season for Individuals (Provisional Taxpayers only)

Most common supporting documentation required:

• IRP5 certificate(s) from employer(s) where PAYE were deducted
• IT3(a) certificate(s) from employer(s) where no PAYE were deducted
• IT3(b) and IT3(c) Tax certificate(s) from financial or other institutions indicating interest earned, dividends received, any taxes withheld, capital gains or losses
• IT3(s) Tax Free Investment certificate(s)
• Medical aid contribution certificate(s) from medical aid scheme (as well as the detailed breakdown of all expenses not covered by the medical aid)
• List and documentary proof of expense and payment for all medical expenses incurred and not covered by the medical aid.
• Retirement Annuity contribution certificate(s) from financial institutions (this should not be confused with employer pension fund or provident fund. For the Retirement Annuity contributions you should receive a separate certificate indicating contributions made towards a Retirement Annuity Fund, while pension- or provident fund contributions normally reflect on your IRP5 certificate)
• Travel logbook kept, in instances where a company car / travel allowance forms part of your remuneration or more than 50% of your total income consists of commission (for commission earners, we will require all details for all motor vehicle expenses, as we need to work with actual expenses and cannot work on the SARS rates per kilometre)
• Passport copies and secondment letter from employer if you earned foreign employment income and out of country exemption applicable

Forms to be completed by every client, every year:

To ensure that we have all the relevant documentation to complete and submit your income tax return within the timeframe given by SARS, please find the following documentation that you will need to complete and return to us as soon as possible:

• Client information sheet
  • Please complete this document with your most recent personal information.
• Client questionnaire
  • Please complete this document in full.
  • The answers supplied, should relate to the period 1 March 2019 to 29 February 2020.
  • All questions answered in the affirmative (YES), should have some form of supporting documentation attached. This will ensure that you will get the most out of your tax deductions and declare all relevant income honestly.
• SARS Power of Attorney
  • This power of attorney allows us to interact with SARS on your behalf. It allows us to get information from SARS with regards to your tax affairs, such as amounts owing to SARS, amounts due to you from SARS, general queries on outstanding returns as per SARS, etc. We do not accept any moneys from SARS on your behalf – SARS will pay moneys directly to you.
  • We can assist with the completion of this form, if you are struggling. We will then forward to you for signature.
• Engagement Letter
  • Please complete and sign this document.

Forms to be completed, ONLY if applicable – refer to details per form to identify whether applicable:

• List of assets & liabilities
  • Only those individuals who are members of a CC, directors of a company or have their own business (including those who earned rental income), need to complete this document.
  • The values to be used should be cost price or actual amount owed on a loan. The information should all be stated as at 29 February 2020.
• Medical Expenses Schedule
  • Only to be completed in instances where medical expenses were incurred, apart from the expenses submitted to and covered by the medical aid.
• Medical Disability Form
  • Only to be completed in instances where medical expenses were incurred, apart from the expenses submitted to and covered by the medical aid.
  • A new form will need to be completed every 5 years where permanent disability is applicable.
• Rental Income & Expenses
  • Only to be completed in instances where you earned rental income – this is merely a template for ease of reference and another format of providing us with the information will be acceptable.

Here are a few helpful tips that will enable us to ensure the proper completion of your tax return:

Income:

• You should receive an IRP5 or IT3(a) from your employer (or financial institution in instances of annuity from retirement fund) for all salary and allowances received, as well as tax already deducted (PAYE) for the period.
• If you changed jobs during the tax year or have more than one employer, you should receive an IRP5 or IT3(a) from each employer.
• You should also receive an IRP5 or IT3(a) for any lump sum payments received from a pension- or provident fund during the tax year.
• If you receive investment income (interest), a copy of the tax certificate (e.g. IT3(b) and IT3(c) for capital gains and losses, received from the financial institution concerned) should be forwarded to us.
• If you rent out a property or asset, your taxable income from letting is the amount of rental earned, less any deductible expenses such as repairs, rates & taxes, letting agent’s fees, home owners insurance costs, garden services, security, property levies and interest payments on the mortgage bond or loan (repayments of capital portion are not deductible).
• If you made any contributions or had any transactions on a new or existing Tax Free Investment, a copy of the tax certificate (It3(s)) from the financial institution, should be forwarded to us.

Deductions:

• Medical & Dental Expenses:
  • If you received a medical aid certificate, the certificate will indicate all contributions paid to the fund, as well as expenses submitted to the fund, but not paid for by the fund. (These expenses will relate to medical expenses for you, your spouse or child and dependants paid by you and which could not be recovered from your medical aid).
  • Please provide us with the detailed breakdown from your medical aid for medical expenses submitted to the fund, but not paid for by the fund.
  • A detailed list of expenses not submitted to the medical aid should be provided to us, along with the supporting documentation used to complete this list.
  • Examples of qualifying medical expenses are any amounts which were paid by a taxpayer during the year of assessment:
    • For services rendered and medicines supplied by a registered medical practitioner, dentist, optometrist, homeopath, naturopath, osteopath, herbalist, physiotherapist, chiropractor or orthopaedist for professional services rendered or medicines supplied to the person or any dependant of the person;
    • To a nursing home or hospital or any duly registered or enrolled nurse, midwife or nursing assistant (or to any nursing agency in respect of the services of such a nurse, midwife or nursing assistant) in respect of the illness or confinement of the person or any dependant of the person
    • For medicines prescribed by a registered medical practitioner and acquired from a pharmacist
  • Medical expenses incurred and paid outside South Africa.
• Donations:
  • Only donations to certain approved public benefit organisations may be claimed – to be able to claim, you will need to provide us with a Section 18A receipt from the organisation.
  • Please note that school fees (voluntary or prescribed) and tithes given to a church, do not qualify as donations.
• Venture Capital Company Investment:
  • If you have made an investment in a Venture Capital Company (VCC) registered with SARS in terms of Section 12J, we will require the tax certificate for the tax year that will confirm your investment for tax deduction purposes.
• Pension or Provident Fund Contributions:
  • Your IRP5 certificate should disclose any contributions paid by you or your employer to the fund.
• Retirement Annuity Fund Contributions:
  • You need to provide us with the certificate from the financial institution as proof of your contributions. This will typically be from Sanlam, Liberty, Old Mutual, Momentum, Investec and PPS.
• Travel Expenses:
  • If you are an employee and received a company car or travel allowance or 50% or more of your total income related to commission, you can claim your business travel expenses. To be able to claim for any travel expenses, you will need to provide a properly completed travel logbook of all business travel.
  • You need to disclose the value of your motor vehicle used for business travel (this will be the cost price, excluding finance charges, that was paid or financed when the vehicle was purchased), the odometer reading on the date on which you started receiving the travel allowance (alternatively, if for the duration of the tax year, the odometer reading as at 1 March 2019), as well as the odometer reading on the date on which you stopped receiving the travel allowance (alternatively, if for the duration of the tax year, the odometer reading as at 29 February 2020).
  • The following minimum information relating to business kilometres travelled should be reflected:
    • Date on which the travel took place
    • The destination to and from as well as the reason for the business travel
    • The kilometres travelled.

Fee for Income Tax Return submission (unchanged from previous year): 

The relevant fee categories are indicated below: 

• R494.50 (15% VAT included) per return for individuals with only one or more IRP5 certificate and no other income or deductions.
• R805.00 (15% VAT included) per return for individuals with only
  • one or more IRP5 certificate
  • medical aid contributions as per medical aid certificate provided
  • retirement annuity fund contributions as per retirement annuity certificate provided
  • NO other income or deductions
• R879.75 (15% VAT included) per return for individuals with only
  • one or more IRP5 certificate
  • medical aid contributions as per medical aid certificate provided
  • completed schedule of medical expenses incurred but not claimed through a medical aid, along with the supporting documentation used to complete the schedule
  • retirement annuity fund contributions as per retirement annuity certificate provided
  • travel allowance received as per IRP5 certificate, with the relevant information completed on the client questionnaire with regards to the vehicle(s) used, along with a log book of business travel for the year.
  • NO other income or expenses to be considered
• R661.25 (15% VAT included) PER HOUR for individuals that do not fall within one of the categories indicated above. This will include individuals with:
  • One or more IRP5 certificate where commission income was earned and business expenses incurred as a result of this, to be taken into account in determining the deduction for business expenses (mainly applicable in cases where commission income is greater than 50% of total income).
  • Rental income and expenditure incurred in relation to the rental income.
  • Exempt income due to fulfilment to out of country days.
  • Other income or deductions not covered above.
• We can’t guarantee that we will be able to submit your personal income tax return in time for the SARS deadline, in instances where you provide us with your documentation after 2 November 2020 – SARS shortened the filing season and we therefore urge you to please provide us with your documentation well in advance, so that we will have sufficient time to adequately work on your personal income tax return submission.

We will issue a Tax Invoice to you based on the above fee structure. The fee will cover the following:

• Completion and submission of your income tax return,
• Calculation of your estimated tax liability or refund,
• Submission of supporting documentation, upon request from SARS,
• Agreeing of our calculation to the SARS assessment upon receipt of this assessment from SARS
• Liaising with SARS to determine date of refund, if applicable.

Fee for Notice of Objection submission:

We will charge a fee of R879.75 (15% VAT inclusive) per notice of objection filed. Before any notice of objections is filed, this will be communicated through to the tax payer, for final review and feedback. Only once we have received payment for the invoice raised for the relevant notice of objection, will the objection be filed.

This fee will only be applicable where we attended to the initial income tax return submission. In other instances, the fee will be based on time spent and will be R661.25 (15% VAT inclusive) per hour.

This fee will then cover the following:

• Completion and submission of the notice of objection through SARSefiling.
• Liaising with SARS to determine the progress of the objection.
• Agreeing the revised SARS assessment upon receipt thereof through SARSefiling, if applicable.
• We can NOT guarantee a successful outcome to the objection filed and this fee will therefore be payable upon submission of the objection and will NOT depend on the successful outcome of the objection. We will, however, take due care in ensuring that we provide as much information to SARS to justify our objection filed and to ensure (to the best of our abilities) that we did everything from our side to ensure a successful outcome. The final decision on a notice of objection filed, remains with SARS and therefore not within our control.

Should you require further clarification on the above, please feel free to contact us at any time.

Ensure the timeously completion of your tax return by contacting us in advance.

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