What’s New at SARS

30 March 2023 – High Court Judgments

• CSARS v Grand Azania (Pty) Limited (33257/2021) [2023] ZAGPPHC 173 (13 March 2023)
• Siyandisa Trading (Pty) Ltd v CSARS (A201/2021) [2023] ZAGPPHC 126 (17 February 2023)
• CSARS v Khagiso Afrika Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Others (49048/2021) [2023] ZAGPPHC 36 (16 January 2023)

Summaries are available on the High Court Judgments page

30 March 2023 – Employment Tax Incentive Act, 2013

Two draft documents relating to the employment tax incentive, administered by SARS, are published for comment:

• Draft Guide to the Employment Tax Incentive (Issue 5)
• Draft Interpretation Note – Meaning of ’employee’ for purposes of the Employment Tax Incentive Act

Due date for comment: 12 May 2023

30 March 2023 – SARS is sending SMSs requesting taxpayers to settle their outstanding debt and avoid enforcement actions.

The wording of the SMS is as follows:  “Dear Taxpayer, you are reminded to pay your outstanding <Taxtype> Debt of R <Balance> on Account <TaxrefUnmasked> by 31 March 2023, to avoid further enforcement actions. Regards, SARS”

Please use the following channels to request and view a Statement of Account, should you require further information:

• Dial *134*7277# and follow the voice prompts; or
• Log onto your SARS eFiling profile; or
• Log onto SARS MobiApp profile.

To know if communication from SARS is legit, keep an eye on the Current surveys, SMSs and emails webpage.

30 March 2023 – The VAT264 form has been modernised to make it easier and simpler for vendors to complete.  It has also been updated to align with the recent VAT amendment contained in the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2022. See the new form VAT264 declaration for the supply of second hand goods external form here.

30 March 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964

• Recordkeeping – Imported and Exported Goods

30 March 2023 – Employees tax compliance starts with the Employer. This year, the Employer Annual Declaration opens on 1 April and closes on 31 May 2023.

During this period, employers are required to submit their annual reconciliation declarations (EMP501) that reflect accurate and the latest payroll information about their employees, monthly employer declarations (EMP201) for PAYE, UIF and SDL; payments made (excluding penalties and interest paid); and employee tax certificates (IRP5/IT3(a)s generated, covering the full tax year from 1 March 2022 to 28 February 2023.

For more information on how we will help you to comply, submission channels, enhancements to e@syFile ™ Employer and more, see our letter to stakeholders.

30 March 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964

• Dankie Oupa Delwery CC v CSARS (39598/20) [2022] ZAGPPHC 898 (6 September 2022)

Customs: Whether the respondent was correct in determining that –

1. the physical address is a requirement for a valid tax invoice in terms of Schedule 6, Part 3, Note 6 (d) read with section 75(1C) and (iii) of the Customs and Excise Act No.91 of 1964 (the Act);
2. the applicant’s record keeping was insufficient;
3. it did not act irregularly in failing to allow the applicant the opportunity to prove that the fuel was appropriately used within 30 days of demand;
4. the applicant’s logbooks were legally not compliant, or they contained insufficient details regarding the usage of fuel for eligible purchase; and
5. there were no exceptional circumstances for the Court to depart from the general rule in section 8(1)(c) of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (PAJA).

29 March 2023 – Tax Administration Act, 2011

• Draft Notice – Returns of information to be submitted by third parties in terms of section 26 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (Act No. 28 of 2011)

Due date for comment: 14 April 2023

29 March 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964

• Validity of Import Entries

29 March 2023 – Interface specification version 6.503:  Implementation date rescheduling

SARS has previously published a notice titled, Tax Directives:  Interface specification version 6.503 trade testing dates and software implementation, with a planned execution date for the first quarter of 2023.

Please be advised that the above implementation has been rescheduled for implementation in the second quarter of 2023. A date will be communicated for trade testing in due course

29 March 2023 – RFP16/2022: Renewal of current VMWare software support and subscription and the procurement of additional VMWare software licenses

Notice to bidders:

Prospective bidders to take note that the document “SARS RFP 16-2022 4-1 Draft Legal Agreement” (forming part of the published in the tender pack) will be replaced by a updated document. The reason for the replacement is to ensure better alignment to the other published tender documents. The replacement will be published on the SARS website as soon as possible and before the tender closes on 13/04/2023 .

28 March 2023 – Supreme Court of Appeal Judgments

• United Manganese of Kalahari (Pty) Ltd v CSARS (1231/2021) [2023] ZASCA 29 (24 March 2023)
• CSARS v Rappa Resources (Pty) Ltd (1205/2021) [2023] ZASCA 28 (24 March 2023)

Summaries are available on the Supreme Court of Appeal Judgments page

27 March 2023 – Employees’ tax (PAYE) on your pension or annuity for the tax period 1 March 2023 to 29 February 2024

To view the FAQs relating to the fixed PAYE deduction rate of your pension where you have more than one source of income, click here.

25 March 2023 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Rule amendment notice R3194 under sections 19A and 120, as published in Government Gazette 48293, relating to the amendments to rule 19A4.01(b)(ii), to clarify that a special customs and excise storage warehouse may be licensed for the storage of fuel levy goods received from a customs and excise manufacturing warehouse for removal to a BELN country or for export (including supply as stores for foreign-going ships) (DAR242)

25 March 2023 – Tax Administration Act, 2011, and Employment Tax Incentive Act, 2013

• SARSTC 2022/37 (ADM) [2023] ZATC CPT (23 February 2023)

Procedure – determining good cause in the interest of justice: Whether good cause was established not to grant the appellant the default judgment it sought.

24 March 2023 – The PAYE Employer Reconciliation BRS for the 2024 tax year was updated.

The PAYE BRS for Employer Reconciliation version 22 1 0 is now published (previous version was 22 0 0).

The validation rules for the Directive Information fields have been amended.

24 March 2023 – The tax workshop schedules for North West province during April to June 2023 have been published.

24 March 2023 – RFP16/2022: Renewal of current VMWare software support and subscription and the procurement of additional VMWare software licenses

The questions and answers document is now available.

24 March 2023 – Beware of an email titled ‘SARS Letter for you’ or ‘Letter of Demand’. The email threatens the recipient with a court order and blacklisting, and has a link to a phishing website. Do not click on any links. See an example of this scam. 

Forward any suspicious mails to [email protected] or keep an eye on the Scams and Phishing webpage for a list of the latest scams.

23 March 2023 – Tax Court Judgments

• SARSTC IT 45935 (ADM) [2023] ZATC CPT (23 March 2023)
• SARSTC 46206 (IT) [2023] ZATC JHB (21 February 2023)

Summaries are available on the Tax Court Judgments page