The tax collection unit in the country, SARS has introduced several changes in its programs with the aim of making life easier and avoiding mistakes for taxpayers this year.
One of these changes is a new alert questionnaire that will help detect and resolve problems early, reducing the likelihood that a taxpayer’s file will be selected for verification or audit.
Mr Nico Theron, founder of Unicus Tax Specialists SA, applauded the change. He said taxpayers may receive a warning before they submit their returns if something is wrong.
“The warning, it seems, will tell the taxpayer that there is something wrong or missing in their file. Remember, SARS knows almost everything about you,” he added.
A warning will appear about the reserved treasure details.
“If there is such a situation, the taxpayer will be able to see and enter the necessary information correctly.”
Theron said that in the past, a person would first finish filling out their forms and then check if there is any necessary information that they have withheld.
He emphasized that this is about to change as before a person submits his forms, there will be something to warn him if there is information that is still needed.
“It is about to happen that if the taxpayer ignores the warning, his things will be processed.
“This is a good idea, and we will have to wait and see if the questions will contribute positively to the eFiling process, or if they will cause unnecessary delays or if they will pass the wrong test.”
Theron said she believes there are those who will want to ignore the warnings.
“I don’t recommend that people do that. If you choose to ignore warnings when there are errors in your forms, the chances are high that you will get an unexpected result”
He went on to say that SARS will not take lightly the issue of those who ignore warnings when filling out their eFiling forms.
“If a person receives a warning, he must get help if he does not understand what to do to avoid mistakes.”
Thoron said that it is possible that some of the information sent to SARS by the medical aid agencies and money saving funds has errors.
“Therefore, it will be important for a person to look closely at the questions they receive so that their forms end up with accurate information.”
Those who will have their things done by SARS can expect results from July 1 to 12. Those who will go to SARS in person and those who will organize their things in eFiling will start from July 13 to October 23.