It’s the time of year for Wimbledon, the Durban July and doing your tax …

Tax filing season 2015 opened on Wednesday, and you have five months to submit your income tax return if you are an eFiler and do not pay provisional tax.

The income threshold below which taxpayers do not have to submit a tax return has been raised from R250 000 to R350 000 for the 2015 year of assessment (March 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015). However, the income threshold is not the only criterion that determines whether or not you must submit a return. You must file one if your total salary before tax was below R350 000 but if:

You received income from more than one employer; You received a car allowance; You received income from another source, such as a business or renting out property;

You are claiming tax-related deductions, such as medical expenses, travel expenses and contributions to retirement funds;

You received interest from a South African source of more than R23 800 if you are below 65 years, or R34 500 if you are 65 or older; or

Dividends were paid to you and you were a South African resident during the year of assessment.

The deadlines for filing your return are:

If you submit a paper return in person to a branch of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) or you post a paper return: Wednesday, September 30. This deadline also applies to provisional taxpayers who submit paper returns.

If you are not a provisional taxpayer and you file your return at a SARS branch or you eFile it: Tuesday, November 27.

If you are a provisional taxpayer and you eFile your return: Friday, January 29, 2016. Provisional taxpayers who eFile have until January 31 to make payments.

SARS will impose penalties on taxpayers who do not meet the relevant deadlines.

Ettiene Retief, the chairperson of the national tax and stakeholders committee at the South African Institute of Professional Accountants, says you should pay attention to the following when completing your tax return:

Out-of-pocket medical expenses.

If you are over the age of 65, you can claim all medical expenses not covered by a medical scheme. Other taxpayers may claim for outof-pocket medical expenses (not recovered from a medical scheme) only if they exceed 7.5 percent of their total income. Retief says SARS requires proof that you actually paid an out-of-pocket expense. Invoices from medical practitioners will not suffice; you must keep receipts or electronic fund transfer statements.

ity.

Expenses related to disabil-

A medical practitioner who is qualified to assess the disability concerned must complete an ITR-DD (confirmation of diagnosis of disability) form (which can be downloaded from the SARS website, www.sars.gov.za), which must accompany your claim.

Business-related mileage.

You must keep a log-book if you receive a travel allowance and want to claim for business-related travel in a private vehicle. Your log-book must contain the odometer reading at the beginning and the end of the tax period, with each business trip logged by date, destination, purpose and kilometres travelled.

Expenses related to rental income.

Taxpayers who earn rental income from property can claim expenses related to generating that income, but not capital expenditure. If you took out a bond to buy the property, you may claim only the interest portion of the repayments and the bank’s administration fees. Keep your statements that show the capital and interest portions of your monthly repayments separately. You must also be able to produce documents to support the other expenses you are entitled to claim, such as levies, rates, rental agent’s fees, and repairs and maintenance (but not improvements).

Go through all the IT3B statements you receive and identify all the interest income you receive, including interest paid on a medical savings account

Interest income.

and interest paid by SARS on late repayments.

Check that the information with which SARS has pre-populated your tax return is accurate. Inaccuracies that come to light if SARS performs an audit could make it seem as if you have been acting fraudulently.

If you use a tax practitioner, remember that all tax practitioners have to be registered with SARS. They must belong to a recognised controlling body, such as the South African Institute of Tax Professionals or the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. You, as the individual taxpayer, remain liable for your tax affairs and compliance when you use a tax practitioner.

Income information.