Johan van der Walt, Director, Tax, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Understatement penalty explained. The Tax Administration Act, No 28 of 2011 (TAA) introduces the ‘understatement penalty’ in Chapter 16. Section 223 contains an ‘understatement penalty percentage table’. According to the Sars Short Guide on the TAA (Guide) the penalty will be determined by locating each case within the table that assigns a percentage to objective criteria. Sars carries the onus of proving that the grounds exist for imposing the understatement penalty.
Tag: Pravin Gordhan
Most of your tax money well-spent – Gordhan
PRETORIA – Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan attempted to reassure South Africans that most of the money collected through taxes is being used for the correct purposes. At a media briefing on Tuesday, held to share the preliminary outcome of revenue collection for the 2012-13 financial year, Gordhan said that South Africans are asking that their money be well-spent and rightly so.
Justice Zak Yacoob to head up enquiry into allegations against Sars Commissioner
Following allegations of impropriety involving Sars commissioner Oupa Magashula Retired Constitutional Court judge Zak Yacoob has been appointed to probe allegations of impropriety involving Sars commissioner Oupa Magashula, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday.
Retirement reform: how you’ll score
By Laura du Preez Making trustees of retirement funds responsible for choosing a default annuity for you on retirement could result in you getting a better pension, delegates to the Pension Lawyers Association conference heard this week. Kobus Hanekom, head of strategy, governance and compliance at Simeka Consultants & Actuaries, an affiliate of Sanlam Employee Benefits, says there is a huge shift in responsibility to trustees in National Treasury’s latest retirement reform proposals, which were released with the Budget late last month.
Pravin’s big retirement changes on track
You need to gear up your retirement planning to meet T-Day and P-Day, when government will implement major changes to the R3-trillion retirement savings industry. T-Day and P-Day are days when retirement fund reforms are scheduled to be implemented in or after 2015, with legislation based on government’s latest proposals for retirement reform being put before Parliament this year. The proposals are outlined in a discussion paper titled “2013 Retirement reform proposals for further consultations”.
Reforming the taxation of trusts: a long time coming
By Johan van der Walt High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI’s) and their use of trusts for tax and estate planning purposes go hand in hand. A trust is often praised for its “flexibility”. Open any financial planning periodical and there’s bound to be an article on the virtue of trusts.
The continued attack on the trust structure
It is not news that the fiscus has been bearing down on the use of Trusts by taxpayers in recent years. Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, has made this abundantly clear on numerous occasions and his sentiment seems to be echoed by Oupa Magashule, the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service.
PwC 2013 Tax Budget Comments
PwC 2013 Tax Budget Comments Personal Income Tax Higher income tax earners will have R231,25 less income tax to pay per month, assuming they have a basic annual taxable income of R700,000. Lower income tax earners will pay R86 less income tax annually, assuming they have an annual basic taxable income of R165, 600.The individual threshold for submitting a tax return was raised from R120,000 to R250,000 per year. This means that taxpayers that have taxable income of less than R250,000 annually will not be required to submit tax returns.
South Africa Details Pensions Consultation
by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus Further details have been provided of the Government’s public consultation on its proposals to reform the retirement industry in South Africa, with a focus on the taxation, governance and harmonization of retirement funds.
Budget 2013 – Share Schemes
By Andrew Lewis (DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr) Executive summary Share incentive schemes were again mentioned in this year’s tax budget proposals. It thus appears that the broad-based employee share plan contemplated in s8B of the Income Tax Act will be reviewed and possibly merged with s8C of the Income Tax Act into a single employee share scheme regime.