Five things you need to know about this tax season

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) is taking steps to reduce the number of taxpayers who visit its branches unnecessarily.

The 2018 tax season starts on July 1 and will be 18 business days shorter than usual. Most taxpayers will have to submit their returns by October 31.

Here is some important information taxpayers have to be aware of: 1. Not everyone has to file a return

Sars had sent personalised communication to taxpayers who might not have to submit a tax return, acting commissioner Mark Kingon said.

In 2017, 1.6 million people who did not need to submit, did so unnecessarily.

Taxpayers do not have to submit a return if their total employment income or salary for the tax year was no more than R350 000, their employment income or salary was received from a single employer, they had no other form of income (car allowances, company car fringe benefits, rental income or income from another job) and did not want to claim any additional deductions or rebates (medical costs and retirement annuity contributions).

2. Tax returns for the current year of assessment will take priority

Tax returns for the current year of assessment will take priority over outstanding returns for prior years.

According to Sars, experience has shown that the submission of prior year returns poses a risk to taxpayers that are taken in by scammers.

3. Verification letters will be more specific

Kingon said verification letters would be more specific in terms of the supporting documents that Sars would require from taxpayers who had been flagged for a specific risk. This would assist taxpayers to respond timeously and accurately.

“We will give the taxpayer a far more specific letter where we can and ask just the information that is needed.”

4. Repeat audit cases will be restricted

The Sars risk engine is not a static engine, Kingon said.

“We’ll continue to refine the risk engine to specifically limit repeat audit cases where no risk was found in previous years. We believe in that regard we can reduce the volumes of work that is being done.”

5. Taxpayers and tax practitioners are encouraged to use eFiling only

During 2016, a total of 132 000 returns were submitted by tax practitioners at Sars branches, while in the 2017 season, 120 000 were.

“We are asking specifically that tax practitioners use eFiling only. There is no need for them to go and clog our branches,” Kingon said.

Taxpayers are also encouraged to file via eFiling on their own. Sars would support eFilers with the Help-You-eFile service.