SARS Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, has announced changes to the tax return threshold, as well as the dates for the 2019 tax filing season.
Tax return threshold increased
During a SARS media briefing on Tuesday 4 June, the SARS Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, announced as a measure to ease the burden on taxpayers the tax return threshold will be increased from R350,000 to R500,000.
The tax return threshold only applies to taxpayers who meet the following criteria:
- You must receive income from only one employer;
- You must have no other form of income, such as a car allowance, business income, taxable interest and rental income;
- You must have no additional deductible allowances, such as medical expenses, travel expenses or retirement annuities.
It is important to note that taxpayers must understand the requirements set out by SARS and review their personal circumstances before electing not to submit their tax returns as they may be forfeiting a tax refund.
A typical refund situation is when a taxpayer was not employed for a full tax year. This is because employees are taxed on an annualised basis through PAYE, so more tax would have been paid to SARS than necessary.
To further reduce unnecessary trips to branches, SARS said taxpayers who are not required to file a return will receive a simulated outcome from SARS as if they had filed a return. The taxpayer can accept this outcome or update the return and file.
When is the 2019 tax return season opening?
Kieswetter also announced that SARS is continually updating the SARS efiling system and the annual tax return ITR12 will have a number of amended filing fields.
The tax season opens on the 1 July 2019 for electronic submissions via SARS efiling, while manual submissions at a SARS branch may be made from 1 August 2019 to 31 October 2019. For the tech savvy taxpayer, submission of returns via the SARS’ app have a deadline of 4 December 2019.
For more information, contact Grant Ward or your nearest Moore Stephens office.