With June drawing to a close and July on the horizon, Cabinet has urged South Africans to file their income tax returns from 1 July 2019.
The start of July marks the beginning of tax season for taxpayers who use and are registered for eFiling or who will make use of the South African Revenue Service’s new MobiApp.
“Cabinet encourages South Africans to prepare their tax submission for the 2018/19 tax season. Appropriate and efficient revenue collection enables government to ensure fiscal sovereignty,” said the newly appointed Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu, during a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday.
Taxpayers who do not use SARS eFiling or the SARS MobiApp but require assistance from SARS branch staff to file their income tax returns, will only be able to do so from 1 August 2019.
While the tax season for those who use SARS eFiling and the SARS MobiApp is until 4 December, those who file at a SARS branch have until 31 October 2019, a much shorter period.
The revenue service said the reason for this staggered approach to tax season 2019 is to encourage taxpayers to use the two digital channels which are available at any time, offers enhanced features and removes the need to queue at a SARS branch.
For 2019 the SARS MobiApp for smart phones, downloadable from the Play Store or App Store, will allow taxpayers to register for SARS eFiling, submit a return, upload supporting documents, retrieve their username or reset their password and view their Notice of Assessment (ITA34), among other services.
In this tax season, South Africans who earn less than R500 000 per year and meet certain other criteria are exempt from filing tax returns.
Taxpayers who meet all of the following criteria need not submit a return:
- Their total employment income for the year before tax is not more than R500 000
- They only receive employment income from ONE EMPLOYER for the full tax year
- They have no other form of INCOME (e.g. car allowance, business income, and rental income, taxable interest or income from another job)
- They don’t have any additional allowable tax related deductions to claim (e.g. medical expenses, retirement annuity contributions and travel expenses).
The revenue generated from income tax ensures government has the capacity to provide much-needed services and social support to millions of less fortunate communities. – SAnews.gov.za
