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The VAT Act requires persons carrying on an enterprise whose taxable supplies have exceeded or are expected to exceed R1million in a period of 12 months to register for VAT. A person may also voluntarily register if their supplies have exceeded R50 000 or are expected to exceed R50 000 in a 12-month period. A person may opt to voluntarily register for various reasons amongst them to secure the claiming of input VAT.
Capital gains tax was introduced in 2001. South African tax residents are liable for capital gains tax on disposal of their worldwide assets. Non-residents are liable for capital gains tax on disposal of their immovable assets situated in South Africa or any assets effectively connected to their permanent establishment in South Africa.
In February 2021, SARS issued a media release that SARS had received from 87 jurisdictions across the world, information detailing the offshore financial assets of South African taxpayers and that SARS intended to undertake a careful review of the information and audit it, where necessary.
A focal point of the 2021 Budget Review relates to the proposed strengthening of SARS. Numerous recommendations made by the Nugent Commission to address governance failures at SARS have, to date, been implemented, including the re-establishment of the Large Business Centre, as well as units within SARS focussing on litigation, compliance and integrity.
In current economic times, some taxpayers may prefer to follow the “head-in-sand” approach when it comes to outstanding tax debts it has no means of paying. Unfortunately, this approach will not make the tax debt go away, but rather give rise to interest being levied in respect thereof.