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Tips for the End of the 2019 Tax Year

The 2019 tax year ends on 28 February 2019. Our tax advisory team in Cape Town shares some basic tips for reducing your tax liability, preparing for tax year-end, and advice for avoiding penalties.
 
Advice for tax payers: 
  • Retirement contributions: Speak to your tax advisor to ensure you have maximised your retirement annuity contributions, in order to reduce your tax liability.
  • Take your odometer reading: If you claim a travel deduction, don’t forget to record your closing odometer reading on 28 February 2019 for the 2018/19 tax year. SARS requires you to keep a logbook of your business travel in order to claim a travel deduction. This includes details of the date, kilometres travelled, as well as destination and reason for the trip. A separate logbook must be kept for each vehicle used. Without a logbook, you will not be able to claim a travel deduction. The SARS reimbursed kilometre rate for the 2019 tax year is R3.61 per kilometre.
  • Charitable donations: Have any charities benefited from your generosity this past year? Contributions to approved Public Benefit Organisations (PBO’s) can help to lower your tax liability. Be sure to request a Section 18A certificate for your donation and to check whether the PBO qualifies for the deduction.
  • Tax-free savings accounts: Maximize your tax savings by contributing to your tax-free savings account (TFSA) in February 2019. You can contribute up R33 000 tax free, per year, and up to R500 000 over your lifetime.
  • Provisional tax payments: If you’re a provisional taxpayer, make sure that your second provisional tax payment is made by the end of February 2019. Remember that SARS imposes late payment and under-estimation penalties, so ensure your payment is made on time and that you’re as close as possible to an accurate estimation of your annual taxable income.
The following are important dates to note for 2019/2010: 
 
Submission and payment of Second Provisional Tax for 2019 tax year (Individuals) 28 February 2019
Second Provisional Tax for February year-end (Companies) 28 February 2019
Deadline for submission of February year-end Company tax returns 2018 28 February 2019
Start of Annual Employers Tax Season EMP501 2019/02 1 April 2019
End of Annual Employers Tax Season EMP501 2019/02 30 May 2019
Start of Tax Season for Individuals (2019 tax year) 1 July 2019
Start of Interim Employers Tax Season EMP501 2020/08 1 September 2019
End of Interim Employers Tax Season EMP501 2020/08 31 October 2019
End of Tax Season for non-provisional individual taxpayers for 2019 tax year 31 October 2019
End of Tax Season for provisional individual taxpayers for 2019 tax year 31 January 2020
 
Lastly, make the best of a fresh tax year and keep up to date with your tax admin. Keep all your slips! It’s important to keep all invoices, receipts and other income and expense related documents. Be sure to file them in a way that’s logical to you so that if SARS requires verification on your tax return, you can retrieve them easily.
 
Speak to a Moore Stephens tax advisor