Individual tax season kicks off for millions of taxpayers

The 2010 tax filing season has begun for millions of South African taxpayers. From 1 July, taxpayers are able to request their income tax returns from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and submit the returns manually, by post or electronically (online using eFiling).

“Individuals employed by companies making use of automated payroll systems are likely to find that their returns will already be populated with most, if not all, of the additional personal information required by the returns,” says Grant Lloyd, managing director of payroll and HR software developer Softline Pastel Payroll.

All taxpayers who did not submit their returns online last year will have received a tax return request (ITRR) form in the post during June. The forms enable taxpayers to order a customised return from SARS, which they complete and then post back to the Receiver. Taxpayers who did not receive the ITRR in the post can contact the SARS Call Centre to request their returns using the new interactive voice response (IVR) system implemented by SARS.

“SARS is putting in a lot of effort to streamline the tax return rigmarole by simplifying the process and making it easier for taxpayers to submit their returns, while at the same time making it more difficult for those who wish to avoid their tax liability,” added Lloyd.

Manual returns must be received by SARS before the end of September 2010 so manual filers have just three months in which to get their affairs in order. To encourage electronic submission, individuals submitting through eFiling have almost four weeks more, up until 26 November 2010. eFiling users not only benefit from the extended deadline, but can also look forward to a more efficient assessment process thanks to a faster, improved version of eFiling.

Lower income groups earning taxable annual income of less than R120 000 from a single employer and who have no other source of income or deductions to declare, don't have to submit an income tax return.

Taxpayers should be aware that SARS intends collecting every cent owed to it and in its quest to streamline tax collections, employers and banks can be appointed as tax collecting agents. This means that any money owed by a taxpayer can be recovered directly from the individual's salary or bank account.

Another new functionality is taxpayer centricity introduced on eFiling with Tax Season 2010. With this in place, individuals have full control over and knowledge of their tax affairs, even though a tax practitioner may be submitting tax returns on their behalf.