The 2014 tax season is now in full swing and individual taxpayers earning remuneration income in excess of R250 000 or earn other “non-salary” income (investments), need to submit a tax return to SARS for the year ended February 2014.
There are a number of ways taxpayers could submit their annual tax return but make no mistake they are not without risk. Here are the ways in which you can complete your return and some areas to be careful of.
- DIY:
- You can call the SARS call centre and request them to post a return to you so that you can complete it manually (with a pen!). You could wait many weeks before you receive your return and when you do receive it, SARS may not have populated it correctly. In this event you would need to request a revised form which could take another few weeks.
- Visit a SARS branch office and they can print it out for you to complete. They could again not populate it correctly and you would then need to either call them or visit the branch office again. The current queuing time at SARS branch offices is about 4-6 hours so taxpayers would need to put in a day’s leave.
- Register on SARS e-Filing to obtain and submit your return electronically. The website is not overly user-friendly for taxpayers who are less comfortable on a PC or not tax literate. You could easily omit income or a deduction if you do not populate the form correctly and this could lead to you having to spend a vast amount of time objecting to assessments or requesting corrections.
- SARS can assist you:
Visit a SARS branch office or a SARS helpdesk at various shopping malls. If time is precious to you, this is not the best option as the queues at both venues are long during tax season. Although no fee is charged, the cost of a day’s leave might not be worth the free return. SARS agents are data capturers and critically, you won’t receive suggestions for possible deductions or tax relief opportunities.
- Non-registered tax preparer:
There are certain individuals and/or companies, eg. insurance agents, who will complete a tax return on your behalf. Tax preparers may not charge a fee or submit the return on your behalf. These agents or companies are not necessarily abreast of tax legislation and could give damaging advice.
- Registered tax practitioners:
This is by far the better method as practitioners need to be registered with both SARS and a registered controlling body. It is however not a perfect solution – there could be a lot of backwards and forwards requesting documents and getting clients to sign documents and the fees charged might seem steep for the service provided.
- The Meredith Harington way:
Undoubtedly the most efficient method of preparing and submitting your tax return. We have developed an online portal which is light years ahead of most tax practitioners in South Africa and is accessible worldwide. The portal includes a tax organiser which covers every possible aspect of an individual’s tax return and should give the taxpayer peace of mind that all income has been declared. Taxpayers can also upload their tax supporting documents and/or schedules to the portal. All tax returns are loaded for online approval with the click of a button. As you are required to retain documents for five years the portal provides the ideal solution.
Take back your precious time, get rid of the stress of queues and unfamiliar systems, take advantage of all your tax planning opportunities and move forward in tax season 2014 to mhONLINE Tax. For more information or to make the change email [email protected]