Taxpayers who are considering skipping their filing obligations could face costly consequences
Image: Gemini
Tax season is well underway, with many South Africans already auto-assessed by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and billions of rand in refunds paid out to taxpayers.
Now the auto-assessment period for South African taxpayers has come to an end, and those who still need to submit their income tax returns can make use of the SARS MobiApp to complete the process.
Taxpayers who were not selected for auto-assessment, or those who need to make changes to their assessment, can use SARS eFiling or the SARS MobiApp to complete their returns.
However, taxpayers who are considering skipping their filing obligations could face costly consequences, as SARS can impose administrative penalties on those with outstanding returns.
According to the South African Institute of Taxation, SARS can impose fixed-amount administrative penalties on taxpayers who fail to submit their income tax returns.
"For outstanding tax returns, SARS applies a fixed-amount penalty structure based on your assessed loss or taxable income from the preceding year. This fine ranges from R250 for taxpayers with an assessed loss or lower income, up to R16,000 for entities earning above R50 million.
"Crucially, this is not a once-off fine. The administrative penalty recurs every month for each month that the non-compliance continues. SARS will keep levying this monthly charge until you submit the outstanding return."
The organisation added that "the penalty can run for a maximum of 35 consecutive months if SARS has your current registered address, or up to 47 months if your address is unknown."
"Ignoring a R2,000 monthly penalty could therefore result in a staggering R70,000 debt over 35 months."
IOL Business