How to . . . Prepare for tax season

TAX season 2013 runs from July 1 to November 22 — and the sooner you get your tax return ducks in a row, the better. “Filing an income tax return can be a surprising amount of work. It’s best to get an early start so that you can submit your return before the rush starts,” said Johan Swart, tax manager at Legal & Tax.

Another incentive to getting started promptly is that the sooner you file, the sooner you get your money back if you are owed a refund.

Swart has the following advice on preparing for tax season:

Do not wait until the absolute last minute with the deadline only hours away. The South African Revenue Service offices are very busy and even eFiling can be slow or possibly offline because of the high demand;

Get your head around using the SARS eFiling service — it is convenient, secure and easy to use. Another reason to use eFiling is that you have until November 22 to submit your return through eFiling. If you file manually, by post or using a SARS drop box, you must file by September 27;

Be 100% honest. Inflating your expenses or not declaring your income honestly is illegal. Since the inception of eFiling, there has been a substantial increase in random audits performed by SARS; and

Get all the documents you need together in one place and file them so that you can refer to them with ease or produce them if SARS asks for an audit. Supporting documents may include:

Your IRP5 certificate from your employer;

A tax certificate from your medical aid;

A list and the receipts of medical expenses not covered by your medical aid scheme;

A tax certificate for your contributions towards a retirement annuity fund; and

A logbook specifying your business trips and travel costs for the period under review.