In order to avoid interest on the late payment of assessed income tax, taxpayers have to pay outstanding tax by the ‘second date’ indicated on the income tax assessment. We are finding that SARS has shortened the number of days between the date of assessment and the second date in many cases, to only a few days.
If your income tax calculation indicated that you will have to make a payment to SARS, please be aware that you may have to make the payment within a few days of submission of your return, in order to avoid interest. The SARS e-filing system is programmed to assess returns instantaneously. BDO will contact you to inform you of the payment but you may be required to make such payment a few days after we have contacted you.
This situation should not affect provisional taxpayers that are companies where the taxable income for the year of assessment exceeds R20 000, or individuals or trusts that are provisional taxpayers and where the taxable income for the year of assessment exceeds R50 000. In such cases interest runs from the ‘effective date’ rather than from the ‘second date’. The ‘effective date’ is defined as 30 September in the case of a taxpayer with a year of assessment ending on the 28 / 29 February and the date six months after the end of the year of assessment in other cases.