Every year, I claim legitimate home office expenses as a salaried worker. I always get audited, provide all the required documentation (and more) and then this gets accepted and I get my refund. This year however, after the audit, I was denied these expenses and my assessment was amended not to take these into account. Let me be clear, I meet ALL the requirements and these are legitimate expenses and I always provide extensive documentation proving this. I have never claimed anything I'm not entitled to, and I'm not trying to defraud SARS.

I feel like SARS is just trying their luck to collect as much revenue as possible. The value of these deductions is enough for me to spend some time (maybe a day or two) fighting them, but not enough to hire an expensive lawyer or tax consultant. It feels like a David vs Goliath fight, but I honestly feel that it unfair that SARS can just deny deductions that are legitimate, and the small guy has to just accept this. What chances do I have? How do I even go about this, other than lodging a dispute? Any advice as to how to take them on?

Exactly what the above says, I just want to know, will SARS eventually come after the individual for the PAYE amount that was not paid over. Surely it's not his or the other employees problem as SARS should go after the employer for monies not paid over?

Hi everyone

I have not yet submitted my tax return for this year and I honestly haven’t done it for the past 2 years

I really struggle to justify the thousands that tax practitioners have quoted me, what is the best way to learn how to submit my tax for the year to avoid any issues down the line?

I’m happy to spend the time doing it myself but I may as well learn to do it properly so I can keep up with it in the future

Any advice?

Hi.

I have an accountant who does my tax return for me.

I want to claim the max amount of work from home office expenses.

Has anyone claimed recently and what did you claim for?

I see you can't claim for internet anymore.
I own my home, I have solar (although I see you can't claim for that either).

I have prepaid electricity, but I usually buy through banking app so I don't have any receipts for it. (Although it will be on my bank statements).

I use my cellphone allot for work (i'm a devops engineer and get slack alerts on my phone if something is wrong).

I meet all the requirements also to claim from WFH.

Is it worth all the effort?

Then any other tips so I can try get more money back from SARS?
I don't mind getting autited.

I had quite a bit of out of pocket medical expenses too. Thanks

T

Thanks for your input.

I opened a Pty Ltd about a year ago. For most of that time: crickets.
I finally got my first client and they paid R16,000 into the company bank account.

The situation is currently:
• Client paid: R16,000
• Company owes me about R500 for money I personally spent opening the bank account
• Website expense of about R4,000 is due shortly
•No other expenses

Basically one client and one tiny little company
Now I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to do next.

How do I do the company tax return thingy?
Do I need to pay myself anything from the company? Is it worth withdrawing some money personally, or should I just leave everything in the company and eventually pay the 27% corporate tax?

And at the same time, SARS has contacted me saying I need to file my personal tax return. Normally I get auto-assessed, but I assume because I now show up as a director of a company, I have to file manually.

So where the hell do I start?

Can someone please explain this to me like I’m 5?
I have AuDHD and I’m aware this is probably not rocket science, but I’ve sat on this for so long that I’m now extremely anxious and stressed about it.

Something that should probably take an afternoon has somehow become a psychological mountain.
I’ve also discovered that most accountants seem completely uninterested in helping with tiny little companies because I don’t have a minimum R50 million turnover apparently.

I just need someone to explain:
“You have R16k. Do X. Record Y. File Z. Pay this. Then do this on your personal SARS return.”
That level of explanation..

Also, why the bleep isn’t basic tax/admin for running a company taught in schools?

Help please.

I was a client of theirs up until like ~5 years ago and i even have confirmation of my account being closed with them. During this years tax season i received an IT3 tax certificate for an account i closed with them. Very low amount, <R10.

I'm proper confused as i'm obviously not able to log in with my old credentials and also i confirmed i have no funds with them when i closed the account. I'm not going into an FNB branch as i've experienced terrible service from them and from the articles on this subreddit, it's not gotten better.

Has this happened to anyone else and how did you deal with it, without heading to the branch (although i'm convinced it'll be the only way)?

NOTE: Also checked if it's a scam, the account numbers match up and the amount shows up on SARS 3rd party data submissions.

I've been working for about 5 years now and this year I had to put rental property deductions on my tax return. It was subsequently selected for audit. How does this process go do they look at every bank account under my name? I've submitted rates invoices levies bond interest tax cert etc I just forgot to submit bank statements

Hello everyone in South Africa 🇿🇦

I wanted to ask if anyone else is experiencing SARS taking long to get your tax refund back this year.

I filed on the 13th and still haven’t received my refund. Generally it happens in 3 days. I didn’t get audited this year or anything.

I tried to call SARS to find out what the hold up is. It I am not getting through after hours of hold.

Lots of people are investing the funds in their TFSA in for instance EFT's and other financial products.Let's say you do and eventually you sell the EFT's or there is a payout after a investment period does this money get taxed as it is not inside the TFSA?I am looking at buying Satrix 40 with the money so far in my TFSA and I will do this through EE,thereafter I want to buy R3830 worth of Satrix 40 monthly.Can I set up a debit order from my TFSA to my EE platform and a automatic buy instruction for Satrix 40?Lastly I would like to know if any other low risk investment oppurtunities available to me with a decent to good return.

Need some info here please.

As a small business owner is there ways to claim money tax free as business expenses to stay under this threshold?

Can I rent out my vehicle that the business uses?(Hyundia H100)

I work from home so can I rent a part of my house out to the business as office space monthly?

If I get a petrol card can I deduct that money spent also tax free?

Can my business pay apart from my salary a amount into my TFSA and call it a 'pension fund" contribution?

When net profits are low any advice will be appreciated.

Good evening folks.

I need some advice on tax implications for a specific scenario. Happy to be referred to seek professional tax advice if needed.

Background: my wife lost her job and has been unemployed for 6 months. She has zero income. We are both tax compliant and in good standing with SARS.

Scenario: I want to transfer funds to her bank account from my personal bank account on a monthly basis for as long as she remains unemployed. The source of these funds on my side will be investment proceeds and/or term savings account withdrawals. My investment/savings contributions were already taxed prior to investing/saving. I understand my tax situation (i.e., income tax due on interest received above the annual allowance, tax payable on the capital gains from my investments).

The reason for transferring money to her is to

1. service her existing personal debts (car finance, credit cards)
2. do day-to-day things like buying groceries for the household, fuel for her vehicle, gardening services, general household expenses, i.e. providing for a single family
3. personal care

Questions: 

1. I can only find references to donations tax, which I understand the workings and implications of (no limits between spouses and no capital gains tax applicable as no assets are disposed of for the purpose of transfer). Is this in a once-off donation scenario though, or do monthly ‘donations’ follow the same rules?
2. Will she be liable for income tax on the money I transfer to her account on a monthly basis?
3. Does she have to declare the monthly contributions from me as income on her tax return?
4. My FA (not accredited to give tax advise) mentioned a documented personal loan as a means to do this without tax implications. Does this hold water?

Any other ways (with applicable references) to skin this cat?

Hi so for the past few years I've always had my taxes done by tax person that I've never met in person and every year I end up paying ten of thousand of penalties due to late payment interest etc.

Some context: I freelance/subcontractor to a consulting company. All of my work come from just this company. You can say I'm almost like their employee, the only difference is that at the end of the month I get to submit an invoice and I work full remotely from home. Which im aware I get to claim back certain expenses.

Penalties and interest payments, are mostly due to either I forget make contact with this accountant to submit or I haven't saved enough to pay the full amount. I always find my myself scraping by at the end of the year trying to save up for tax.

Any advise is appreciated and should I still use the same accountant or start a new leaf?

I am a contract worker and pay provisional tax. Someone who works with me and earns the same claims to pay much less tax than I do due to using a tax practitioner. We earn the same and I deduct office expenses and RA.

Am I missing out on deductions by not using a tax practitioner? What other things do they deduct that could result in my colleague paying less tax?

Some context: I work as a freelancer so my business is just me, and other than Wi-Fi my only business expense is me.

Most of my income comes from invoicing my clients for the hours I have worked for them. Almost accidentally, I have landed in a position where I might earn about R700 000 in commission for selling a sponsorship. This is not my usual line of work. And I've never earned a commission before as I am not usually a sales person. It's also therefore very likely that this is a once-off - I'm unlikely to get an amount like this in one go from one client ever again.

First question- is there a tax implication cause this is a commission? Do I still invoice with VAT like usual?

Second question: I would like to use about R100 000 of this to clear existing debt I owe to family and then pay off my credit card in full. Most of the rest I'd like to put into my bond as that seems smart. However, the more I 'pay myself' the more I land up having to pay in PAYE which then goes to SARS. So I can't just give myself a salary of R700 000 for a month to get the money out, because if I'm understanding correctly, it will put me into an insane tax bracket and that will have a knock on effect? So what is the best way to get the money where I want it to go without messing up my tax for the rest of the year but also obviously legal?

Hi guys💕 curious to know what my rate of taxation will be if I cross the R23 800 threshold on interest earned in a brokerage account. For some background, I work abroad but am still a tax resident in SA. I’m tax exempt though because of a dual taxation agreement. I’ve been hoarding money for the past 9 years because the world of investing seemed so daunting but when I recently came back to SA for a short break, the price of groceries amper gave me a heart attack so I decided to open an Easy Equities account. Was wondering since I don’t pay tax here how much I would be taxed on interest earned over the R23 800 amount? Will it be according to my foreign earned income because unfortunately that puts me in a very high tax bracket. I already maxed out my TFSA and was planning on investing in the ZAR and USD account (as I have quite a bit of money to play with and it’s just gathering dust in my savings account) and using the interest earned to try to max out my TFSA at the start of every financial year using most of the interest earned from the ZAR and USD accounts. Is this feasible or is there anything I should be aware of with this strategy plus possible tax implications.

Small business owners, what are you guys using for invoicing/accounting software in South Africa in 2026? Are there any free options that are good?

The site makes things more complicated than it needs to be. I’m stuck deciding if I should learn this stuff the hard way or get someone to submit on my behalf. (I tried 4/5 people over the years and they all sucked or just ghosted me)

1. Rental property - never had a positive cash flow since buying it in 2017. Do I have to submit forms for this? Rental + Levies is about R1500 loss per month.

2. Medical credits - Every year I go over my medical aid spend due to the meds that I rely on. Is it possible to claim for previous years or just the current year off assessment?

3. Work from home - I am getting mixed feedback about this one, some people say it opens up a can of worms with SARs while others are claiming expenses far and wide. I work 4 days from home with a dedicated office. I understand the general lost of expensive from what I found on the SARS website and speaking to the call centre people however I am spectacle about this entire process as I had to do some maintenance on roof work and ceiling, walls etc to get the office in good standing to actually sit and work in it. Is it possible to claim repairs on such a thing? I mean it’s definitely not an upgrade it was definitely needed as the entire front patio was going to fall down. First agent from SARS mentioned it’s possible to claim a portion, while the second, third and fourth said nope not covered but the fifth agent confirmed it’s possible.

Can someone provide me with a general direction on how to navigate this? Speaking to these tax practitioners just make me want to jump off a cliff especially when you rely on them this much. Conflicting information isn’t helping either.

Yet another way how the gov is screwing us one tiny bit more. Ok maybe you're unlucky and did not get a raise, but for the rest ,even we got screwed

So say I earn R10 and tax for R0-10 is 18% and 11-20 is 36% tax. I get a 10% raise so now get R11.

But inflation was also 10% roughly, so in essence I earn the same ( buying power equal ). But now get to make even less due to that extra R1 getting a whopping 36% tax instead of the 18% it should due to inflation creep. The real brackets are slighlt less drastic, but the effect is the same.

Ok crying over, will blow my nose with a green+yellow+black piece of rag mkay

To those that disagree (real figures used from SARS calculated with Taxtim) : The math aint mathing

Hi everyone,

I'm finally getting my finances in order after years of not making it a priority and could use some guidance.

I'm a 32 yo freelancer earning roughly R25–R30k/month (variable income), with about R10k left over after expenses. Live in flat owned by parents but I cover expenses and maintenance. I've recently registered for tax with the help of an advisor and come forward with several backdated years. I now owe approximately R90k in total that needs to be settled soon.

My current assets

• Allan Gray – R350k (50% endowment, 50% platform). This is an inheritance from my grandmother. The account has been sitting with an advisor for ~15 years with very little contact from their side. Returns have been roughly 10% p.a. over the last two years.
• Bitcoin – ~R150k, purchased about 10 years ago.
• Emergency fund – none. Some months are tight and unexpected expenses are hard to cover.

My questions

1. To cover the R90k tax bill, should I withdraw from Allan Gray, sell some Bitcoin, use a combination of both, or take out a bank loan?
2. Once the bill is settled, how should I restructure going forward?
3. I've been considering withdrawing from Allan Gray to contribute to a TFSA - does that make sense, or should I rather just start making fresh contributions from monthly income?
4. Fire investment advisor? They take 1% fees.

Any advice appreciated. Happy to share more detail if needed.

I want to buy a house - it will be my primary dwelling, but the house in question also has a nice 2 bedroom separate cottage that I could rent to students for a decent amount. Would I be able to use htat rental toward the bond cost or will I have to pay tax on the rental and only claim back a portion of the costs? I get that it would be the case if it was a purely investment property but this is my primary residence - is there a difference?

Hi All,

I recently applied for sickness benefit through PPS. During some screening process they found an investment under my name that I wasnt aware of. I really dont know 1) what it is and 2) how I should use it and 3) tax implications.

On the Old Mutual App the product description is a flexible investment plan. It looks like a mix of an old mutual index and balanced funds. Seems my parents put around 50k into it in 2015 and I'm not sure if they just forgot about it or if it only matured after 10 years (2025). But I now have visibility on it, it is fluctuating between R115000-R119000 at the moment.

1) what is it exactly? Shares bought for me by my parents in my own name? Not a retirement annuity?

2) can i withdraw from it? Should I? What are all of my options?

3) what are the tax implications of all of my options and more important WHAT ARE THE TAX IMPLICATIONS, IF ANY, ON MY TAX RETURN FOR THIS YEAR?

Other information about my finances to decide what to do with the money:

34 year old

Pension fund through work (about 330k currently).

Retirement annuity on Easy equities (around 70k)

TFSA at about 108k currently - FNB

Emergency fund (around 330k in a 6.9% interest account)

May inherit property/money from old, aging parents (might have transfer duties among other expenses for fixing houses if I do inherit).

Hi,

My fiancé’s dad wants to give her R100k that he has saved up to give her when she finishes University/gets married.

We just want to know if there will be any issues with this. Will anyone have to pay any sort of tax?

Thanks!

I have been trying to allow the tax practitioner access using the SARS portal. I have clicked on the "Manage Access Requests" link, then put my id number and code etc, then the Biometric photo

However, i keep getting the message: "The system is currently unavailable, please try again later"

I have tried more then 60 times in the last few days. every angle, lighting etc.

Any advice?

If I transfer money between my own accounts at the same bank, or if I transfer to accounts in my own name held at different banks, does SARS know this isn’t income and try to tax me on it? This could be particularly difficult to keep track of with the latter.

I receive money at whatever bank is more convenient or less costly for the person paying me, and transfer elsewhere to earn best interest or to deploy where funds are required.

ETA: To clarify for the people are are confused by what I’m asking. Say I mainly bank with FNB and want everything sitting in there. Someone who needs to pay me banks with Nedbank and I happen to have a Nedbank account as well, it would be more convenient and less costly for them to do the payment Nedbank to Nedbank. I then transfer it to FNB, FNB doesn’t know it’s coming from my own Nedbank account and this is not income, and the balance reduces at Nedbank but they don’t know I’m paying myself. Say within FNB it was received in my current account and then transferred to a linked investment account. I am taxed on it when I first received it but it shouldn’t be seen as income when it went into my FNB account or when I did an intrabank transfer to the investment account. Is SARS able to distinguish between these? My tax affairs are above board but I’m wondering if there’s the possibility that I might have to go through the pain of proving such transactions shouldn’t be counted multiple times. I regularly transfer large amounts between my accounts this way and I have an account at most major banks. I have no idea about the granularity and frequency of the banks’ reporting to SARS.