As a practice with registered tax practitioners and accountants, one of our key financial responsibilities is that we interact with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) on behalf of our clients. The spectrum of interactions with SARS officials and their digital platform, can range from standard and simple tax submissions, to more complex queries and may even include appeals. We perform these duties on an ongoing basis, and our clients are just too happy to know they don’t have to deal with SARS in person.
As practitioners we are fortunate to understand the lay of the tax landscape, the applicable legislation, the procedures and processes, and we have our own dedicated practitioner’s line to make appointments. But SARS, like all state departments, also have their own unique set of challenges, whether it’s a system that goes off-line or a dropped telephone call as you are about to begin to talk. These challenges remain ever present as always, which is why the main benefit for our clients is that we know how best to resolve problems, efficiently and timeously.
In spite of this, we inevitably deal with clients and companies that prefer to deal with SARS directly. There is no law against this of course, and we spend many hours in a week to try and assist clients who want to go at it on their own. What happens in many cases is that clients realize, too late, that an issue is more complex than they initially anticipated.
This made me think about the different pitfalls when dealing with SARS, and how it can truly be a challenge to everyone sometimes.
To assist our clients and numerous others out there, we decided to put together this list of 10 important tips to keep in mind when dealing with SARS:
1. It’s all About the Due Dates
Adhere to submission dates – at all times, if you don’t you run into severe penalties and other additional payments. All the necessary submission dates are available on SARS’s website. It is also essential that you keep a record of all the follow-up communication and any further information that may be requested by SARS. Adhere to all due dates – I cannot stress this enough!
2. The Proof’s in the Pudding
It is essential that you keep a comprehensive record of all your submissions to SARS on file and make sure your financial team knows where to get hold of this. This is extremely helpful in case of any current or future queries and disputes. Keep in mind that the burden of proof for submissions always resides with the taxpayer.
3. Nothing Quite Say’s Support Like Support Docs
Whenever you have a planned meeting or if you phone to address an issue or follow up on any queries, make sure to have all your support documents ready and in front of you. This ensures a smoother process and reduces your time spent along the way.
4. Patience is a virtue
Like Poker, you lose when you let your ego take over! Remain calm and courteous, even when you feel like losing it – just don’t. It’s a process that is taking place within one large organisation, and the people within SARS can only do what they can with the resources they have at their disposal. On a personal level, don’t phone SARS if you’re having a bad day at the office.
5. SARS Hereby Finds You…
Always keep in mind that SARS, like any organisation, business and government department has to adhere to the laws of the land. While our tax laws are complicated, they do make provisions for review processes. You could potentially take a matter for review as far as to the Office of the Tax Ombud, but it is a highly prescriptive process with very specific steps and timelines. Before you even think about any such actions, we highly recommend that you obtain a professional opinion from your tax practitioner on your case.
6. Know Thy Rights
It is important that you always know your rights and that you have a basic understanding of the tax laws and governing legislation. Keep in mind these laws change and often certain rights might fall away, or certain concessions are awarded to taxpayers. Keep in mind that this is often one of the main reasons why having a tax practitioner can be so beneficial. Tax practitioners have to undergo Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training to ensure they are up to date with the latest rules, regulations and acts.
7. Create a Culture of Good Housekeeping
It is in your best financial and legal interest to create a culture of good housekeeping where it pertains to admin, invoicing, accounts management, debtors, creditors etc. Teach your teams and set up your business in such a way that finding, filing and keeping record of all thing admin is easy, effective and practical. With cloud-based services and smartphones on hand, there should be no excuse to ensure your entire business is effectively run and that records are accurate and complete. If you run your business this way, dealing with SARS will become easier than you think.
8. Share the Right Information
Many of our clients make use of multiple tax practitioners, either to separate their personal income and activities from their business activities, or they simply have multiple tax practitioners performing different tasks across their businesses. What is of critical importance is that the various profile information sets shared between these tax practitioners is correct and corresponds with each other. Note that SARS also checks this information, so making sure you update these profiles if anything changes is equally important. Nothing complicates submissions quite like variances of the same information between different practitioners or submissions.
9. E-Profiles and Timelines
Don’t transfer your e-filing profiles on short notice, or close to due submission dates. Any delays in the transfer of the profile will inevitably lead to late payments and penalties. Allow sufficient time for an e-file profile transfer, I would suggest no less than two weeks.
10. What’s in a name?
This is an important point if you plan to register your business for income tax. When registering the business, please make sure that the person you indicate in the registration process as the “tax representative” is also registered with SARS, otherwise this will cause countless delays, and there is no easy fix for this. This is one aspect you have to get right from the word go, and it will save you a ton of frustration.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I know this article comes across as almost being preachy, but I can assure you that practically all these points will save you a lot of time, effort and frustration along the way.
SARS is a large organisation with many complexities which requires comprehensive humanitarian, technological and financial resources to manage. It comes as no surprise that practically every action and step within the tax management process is a highly regimented affair and leaves very little margin for alternative options. As a consequence, and in many cases, it’s a case of SARS’s way or the highway.
One sure way to get things done is to appoint a registered tax practitioner to manage this function on your behalf. This will ensure that you are not excluded from the process and ensure you take the right actions. Assuming your practitioner knows their stuff, it will be money well-spent. If you decide to go at it on your own, remain calm, stay focused and breathe deep.
May the force indeed be with you…!
For any assistance with important business decisions, tax queries, analyzing your financial data, or for any accounting related services you may require, please take a look at our comprehensive portfolio of services or call us on +27 82 561 7024.
You can also send us an email at myrtleo@mbasa.org for more information.
As practitioners we are fortunate to understand the lay of the tax landscape, the applicable legislation, the procedures and processes, and we have our own dedicated practitioner’s line to make appointments. But SARS, like all state departments, also have their own unique set of challenges, whether it’s a system that goes off-line or a dropped telephone call as you are about to begin to talk. These challenges remain ever present as always, which is why the main benefit for our clients is that we know how best to resolve problems, efficiently and timeously.
In spite of this, we inevitably deal with clients and companies that prefer to deal with SARS directly. There is no law against this of course, and we spend many hours in a week to try and assist clients who want to go at it on their own. What happens in many cases is that clients realize, too late, that an issue is more complex than they initially anticipated.
This made me think about the different pitfalls when dealing with SARS, and how it can truly be a challenge to everyone sometimes.
To assist our clients and numerous others out there, we decided to put together this list of 10 important tips to keep in mind when dealing with SARS:
1. It’s all About the Due Dates
Adhere to submission dates – at all times, if you don’t you run into severe penalties and other additional payments. All the necessary submission dates are available on SARS’s website. It is also essential that you keep a record of all the follow-up communication and any further information that may be requested by SARS. Adhere to all due dates – I cannot stress this enough!
2. The Proof’s in the Pudding
It is essential that you keep a comprehensive record of all your submissions to SARS on file and make sure your financial team knows where to get hold of this. This is extremely helpful in case of any current or future queries and disputes. Keep in mind that the burden of proof for submissions always resides with the taxpayer.
3. Nothing Quite Say’s Support Like Support Docs
Whenever you have a planned meeting or if you phone to address an issue or follow up on any queries, make sure to have all your support documents ready and in front of you. This ensures a smoother process and reduces your time spent along the way.
4. Patience is a virtue
Like Poker, you lose when you let your ego take over! Remain calm and courteous, even when you feel like losing it – just don’t. It’s a process that is taking place within one large organisation, and the people within SARS can only do what they can with the resources they have at their disposal. On a personal level, don’t phone SARS if you’re having a bad day at the office.
5. SARS Hereby Finds You…
Always keep in mind that SARS, like any organisation, business and government department has to adhere to the laws of the land. While our tax laws are complicated, they do make provisions for review processes. You could potentially take a matter for review as far as to the Office of the Tax Ombud, but it is a highly prescriptive process with very specific steps and timelines. Before you even think about any such actions, we highly recommend that you obtain a professional opinion from your tax practitioner on your case.
6. Know Thy Rights
It is important that you always know your rights and that you have a basic understanding of the tax laws and governing legislation. Keep in mind these laws change and often certain rights might fall away, or certain concessions are awarded to taxpayers. Keep in mind that this is often one of the main reasons why having a tax practitioner can be so beneficial. Tax practitioners have to undergo Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training to ensure they are up to date with the latest rules, regulations and acts.
7. Create a Culture of Good Housekeeping
It is in your best financial and legal interest to create a culture of good housekeeping where it pertains to admin, invoicing, accounts management, debtors, creditors etc. Teach your teams and set up your business in such a way that finding, filing and keeping record of all thing admin is easy, effective and practical. With cloud-based services and smartphones on hand, there should be no excuse to ensure your entire business is effectively run and that records are accurate and complete. If you run your business this way, dealing with SARS will become easier than you think.
8. Share the Right Information
Many of our clients make use of multiple tax practitioners, either to separate their personal income and activities from their business activities, or they simply have multiple tax practitioners performing different tasks across their businesses. What is of critical importance is that the various profile information sets shared between these tax practitioners is correct and corresponds with each other. Note that SARS also checks this information, so making sure you update these profiles if anything changes is equally important. Nothing complicates submissions quite like variances of the same information between different practitioners or submissions.
9. E-Profiles and Timelines
Don’t transfer your e-filing profiles on short notice, or close to due submission dates. Any delays in the transfer of the profile will inevitably lead to late payments and penalties. Allow sufficient time for an e-file profile transfer, I would suggest no less than two weeks.
10. What’s in a name?
This is an important point if you plan to register your business for income tax. When registering the business, please make sure that the person you indicate in the registration process as the “tax representative” is also registered with SARS, otherwise this will cause countless delays, and there is no easy fix for this. This is one aspect you have to get right from the word go, and it will save you a ton of frustration.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I know this article comes across as almost being preachy, but I can assure you that practically all these points will save you a lot of time, effort and frustration along the way.
SARS is a large organisation with many complexities which requires comprehensive humanitarian, technological and financial resources to manage. It comes as no surprise that practically every action and step within the tax management process is a highly regimented affair and leaves very little margin for alternative options. As a consequence, and in many cases, it’s a case of SARS’s way or the highway.
One sure way to get things done is to appoint a registered tax practitioner to manage this function on your behalf. This will ensure that you are not excluded from the process and ensure you take the right actions. Assuming your practitioner knows their stuff, it will be money well-spent. If you decide to go at it on your own, remain calm, stay focused and breathe deep.
May the force indeed be with you…!
For any assistance with important business decisions, tax queries, analyzing your financial data, or for any accounting related services you may require, please take a look at our comprehensive portfolio of services or call us on +27 82 561 7024.
You can also send us an email at myrtleo@mbasa.org for more information.
CONTACT US
Please contact us for an obligation free consultation. Our team works remotely and we are available for on-line or local in person meetings.
082 561 7024
Mon to Fri 7am to 4pm
Mon to Fri 7am to 4pm
myrtleo@mbasa.org