The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has released draft versions of all income tax forms for the 2009 tax season for comment and feedback from taxpayers and practitioners.
According to an announcement by SARS on March 9, the forms have been updated and improved as part of the on-going work to simplify the income tax process and taking into account feedback received and lessons learned during tax season 2008.
The most significant changes affect Income Tax Return Request form (ITRR) and the Income Tax Return for Individuals (ITR12). The ITRR now includes the taxpayer’s details from their previous income tax return. This means that most taxpayers whose tax affairs have not changed since last year will only have to sign the ITRR and submit it. Taxpayers registered for e-filing and those who chose to submit a return via a SARS branch do not have to request an income tax return. Improvements to the ITR12 include combining and simplifying the farming and business income sections, adding additional verification information under banking details for security purposes and introducing a new medical aid code (4040) to distinguish between contributions made via an employer (code 4005) and those contributions not reflected on an IRP5.
SARS also announced that minor legislative amendments have been made to forms IT12TR, IT12EI and IT14.
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel announced the timetable for the 2009 tax season in last month's budget. Under this schedule, the 60 day pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) reconciliation period for employers will begin on April 1 and end on May 30, and the filing period for individual income tax returns will follow from July 1. This year’s deadlines for submission of income tax returns for individuals and trusts are September 18 for manual filers and November 20 for electronic submissions.
SARS is hoping that the upcoming tax season will see a continuation of the growth in e-filing. Last year, over 86% of all returns were submitted via the SARS e-filing system or electronically at the tax department's branches.
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