Info

The Citizen: Is the compliance rate on the increase or decrease?

Sars: For tax season this year, which is the period in which individual taxpayers are required to submit their personal income tax returns, Sars received 5.7 million tax returns, which is 2% more than last year.

The Citizen: What are the penalties of not complying with tax laws?

Sars: If we are late with our individual personal income tax returns, administrative penalties ranging between R250 and R5 000 are applied.

The Citizen: What long-term consequences are there for being guilty of tax evasion?

Sars: When tax crime is detected, an investigation is launched by Sars and the case is escalated to the National Prosecuting Authority for prosecution.

The Citizen: How does one avoid being on the wrong side of tax law?

Sars: Find out which taxes apply to you and this can be done at a Sars branch or the contact centre, register for the taxes that apply to you and file your personal income tax return if you earn an income above the tax threshold of R350 000 per year– only people who earn above this threshold are required to submit a personal income tax return.