A lot of things have changed in 2020 and tax filing season is one of them.  

To keep you on top of things, we wanted to share some important updates that have been announced recently by SARS.

The new filing dates for the 2020 tax filing season, which covers your income/expenses from 1 March 2019 to 28 February 2020, will be as follows: 

• Salary earning (non-provisional) taxpayers who file online:
  • 1 September 2020 to 16 November 2020
• Provisional taxpayers who file online:
  • 1 September 2020 to 31 January 2021
• Branch filers (By Appointment):
  • 1 September 2020 to 22 October 2020

SARS will be rolling out an auto-assessment to some individual taxpayers in August. You may receive an SMS if you are selected to be auto-assessed. This means that SARS has attempted to complete your tax return based on 3rd party data only (i.e. IRP5, medical, investments) and has issued you an assessment without your input. 

We strongly suggest that you don’t accept the auto-assessment, and file your tax return as before from the 1st of September for these reasons:

• Potentially no / reduced tax refund because SARS doesn’t have all your data
• Potential errors as SARS may not have your latest tax certificates from your employer
• No ability to claim tax deductions that will not appear on your auto-assessment e.g. medical expenses, donations, home office, wear, and tear, etc.

With just a few more months to go before tax season is here, why don’t you take advantage of Banda accountants’ online document storage and ensure all your documents are in one place, ready to file. Just email your documents to info@bandaaccountants.co.za  for safe keeping.