Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act

This section amends tax rules: it redefines who counts as a representative taxpayer in some disability/trust cases, lets the Commissioner raise an additional assessment if R&D approval is withdrawn, and requires certain industrial policy project companies to report progress within 12 months after each year of assessment.

This section adds a rule that certain people managing relevant organisations must not intentionally fail to comply with the section or related governing documents, or they commit an offence.

A person managing or controlling the income and assets of an approved public benefit organisation must not intentionally fail to comply with the section or the organisation’s governing documents as they relate to it.

A person responsible in a fiduciary capacity for an approved recreational club’s income and assets must not intentionally fail to comply with section 30A or related governing documents; doing so is an offence.

This section requires withholding tax on interest paid to a foreign person, sets limited exceptions and reduced-rate rules, and requires payment to the Commissioner by the end of the next month. It also creates an offence for intentional non-compliance by fiduciaries of approved associations.

The Commissioner must refund part of a withheld amount of interest tax if the required declaration was late but is filed with the Commissioner within three years after payment.

If a withheld amount under section 37L(1) is in a foreign currency, it must be translated into the Republic’s currency at the spot rate on the day it was withheld for purposes of payment to the Commissioner.

If a royalty has withholding tax deducted, a related declaration must be given on time for the payer, and a later declaration to the Commissioner can trigger a refund of the amount that would not have been withheld.

A person who has paid a dividend must submit a return to the Commissioner, and dividend-withholding refund and recovery claims are time-limited.

This section changes tax rules for dividend refunds, proof of foreign tax paid, records for controlled foreign companies, and employee tax withholding on variable remuneration.

This provision replaces paragraph 14(6) and says an employer who misses the required return deadline may be penalized by the Commissioner.

A company’s taxable capital gain from the section 29B deemed disposal rules is exempt from provisional tax for the stated 2012 assessment period.

Certain provisional taxpayers must submit an estimated taxable income return to the Commissioner if required, and the estimate must exclude specified retirement and severance benefits.

This provision changes when penalties apply for underestimated tax estimates and lets the Commissioner remit all or part of a penalty in some cases.

A provisional taxpayer who misses the required estimate deadline may have to pay a 20% penalty to the Commissioner, unless the Commissioner has already estimated or increased the taxable income.

This section amends tax rules so late-paying provisional taxpayers face a 10% penalty, some registered micro businesses may use special payment timing, and the Commissioner may waive certain penalties in full or part.

Certain customs officers and the Commissioner may withdraw or amend decisions, notices, or communications made or issued by those officers.

Rules made under section 119A, and changes to them during 1 August 2011 to 31 July 2012, do not lapse because of section 119A(3).

This section amends VAT rules so an abridged tax invoice is allowed where the consideration for a supply does not exceed R5 000, and the invoice must be in the currency of the Republic and include the required particulars.

This section amends VAT return and payment timing for vendors.

Employers covered by sections 8 and 9 must submit employee information to the Unemployment Insurance Commissioner each month before the seventh day.

This section repeals Section 1 of the Taxation Laws Second Amendment Act, 2009, and also amends a 2011 Act provision about when a subsection starts applying to research and development.

This section amends several definitions in the Tax Administration Act, 2011.

SARS may obtain information for transmission to another country’s competent authority, must treat it as taxpayer information, and may investigate tax offences, lay criminal charges, and provide required assistance.

This section amends Section 6 so that certain powers and duties may be exercised by a SARS official.

SARS may issue identity cards to its officials, and officials must show the card when requested while exercising tax-administration powers or duties off SARS premises.

This amendment says a cost order in favour of SARS from civil proceedings under the Act counts as funds of SARS.

The Commissioner may require certain people to file a return by notice, and the person required must file it in the prescribed form, with the prescribed information, as a full and true return.

SARS may require a person to submit further or more detailed tax returns, and the person must file them in the prescribed form and manner with full and true information.

This section amends section 29 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011, changing when record-keeping requirements apply and how long records may need to be kept.

Section 32 is amended so a person must keep relevant records, books of account, or documents until the audit or investigation ends, or until the assessment or decision becomes final.

This provision amends section 34 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 by adding single quotes around the word “arrangement” where they are missing.

This provision amends section 36 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 by replacing wording in subsection (1)(a).

A participant need not disclose the specified information if the participant obtains a written statement.

SARS officials handling an audit must give the taxpayer a report on the audit’s stage of completion, in the form and manner set by the Commissioner by public notice.

If an audit suggests a taxpayer may have committed a serious tax offence, the matter is referred to a senior SARS criminal investigations official, and material gathered after referral must be kept separate and cannot be used in related criminal proceedings.

SARS’s request for relevant material from a non-taxpayer is limited to information about records that person keeps, or should reasonably keep, about the taxpayer. SARS may also extend the submission period if the person shows reasonable grounds for an extension.

People on premises where an audit or criminal investigation is being carried out must give SARS reasonable assistance, and the person may recover photocopying costs from SARS.

A SARS official using a section 60 warrant must show the warrant, and if the premises owner or controller is absent, leave a visible copy on the premises.

If the owner or person in control of premises is not present, the SARS official must tell that person the circumstances referred to in subsection (2) as soon as reasonably possible after the search and seizure.

Section 71(3)(b) is amended so the information must likely be material to the prosecution of the offence or to avoiding the risk.

A taxpayer cannot refuse to file required returns or applications just because doing so might incriminate them; related admissions may be used in criminal proceedings unless a competent court orders otherwise.

Section 79 is amended to require certain applicants to provide statements about registration compliance, filed returns, and tax payment or acceptable arrangements.

This section amends section 80 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011.

A taxpayer’s obligation to file a return is not removed by an assessment, and the taxpayer may request SARS to issue a reduced or additional assessment within 30 business days by filing a complete and correct return.

This section amends section 99 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 by replacing item (aa) in subsection (1)(d)(i).

SARS may concede an appeal in whole or in part before it is heard by the tax board, tax court, or on further appeal.

Section 130 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 is amended by deleting subsection (3).

If an intending appellant wants to appeal a tax court decision to the Supreme Court of Appeal, the registrar must send the notice of intention to appeal to the president of the tax court, who must then decide whether to grant or refuse leave to appeal.

This section amends the definition of “settle” in section 142 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011.

This provision amends section 164(5)(d) of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 by replacing the wording on when a material change triggers the suspension-payment decision.

SARS may allocate a tax payment to penalties, interest, or the oldest outstanding tax amount, despite anything to the contrary in a tax Act.

This section amends the Tax Administration Act so that the payment date for a fixed amount penalty is the date of assessment, and the payment date for an increment of the penalty is the date of the increment.

If interest is payable and the interest rate changes, interest for an earlier tax period must be worked out as if the old rate still applied.

This section amends section 192 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 by deleting the definition of “asset”.

This section amends Chapter 14 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 by deleting single quotes from the word “asset.”

SARS must impose the appropriate penalty under section 211 when it is satisfied that a listed non-compliance exists.

This section amends section 211 so that the penalty assessment delivery date depends on SARS having the person’s current address and being able to deliver it, with a 35-month limit from the assessment date.

This section amends section 217 so that SARS may remit a penalty, or part of it, in certain cases.

This section amends a tax rule so that a taxpayer must have a qualifying opinion from a registered tax practitioner.

This section amends section 224 so it is titled “Objection and appeal against decision not to remit understatement penalty.”

A SARS decision not to remit an understatement penalty can be objected to and appealed under Chapter 9.

Section 229 is amended so that paragraph (a) says not to pursue criminal prosecution for a tax offence arising from a default or related common-law offence.

This provision amends section 231 so paragraph (c) now says criminal prosecution may be pursued for a tax offence, including a tax Act offence or related common-law offence.

This section amends section 234 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 to add two new kinds of conduct: issuing an erroneous, incomplete, or false required document to another person, and failing or neglecting to withhold and pay tax to SARS when required.

A senior SARS official may lay a complaint with the South African Police Service or the National Prosecuting Authority about an offence under this section.

This section amends the Tax Administration Act, 2011 by replacing section 237 with a section about criminal offences relating to filing a return without authority.

A person must not submit false or unauthorized returns, documents, or communications to SARS using a forged or another person's signature.

This section amends another tax administration provision to allow a delay where reasonable grounds exist and the application is filed within 21 business days of the deadline.

This section amends section 246 so that a company without a public officer is treated under the tax Act as if the Act did not require one.

This provision amends section 252 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 by replacing wording about delivery with wording that says it must be handed to the public officer of the company.

The Commissioner may make rules on electronic tax returns and communications, and taxpayers may apply for a tax clearance certificate; SARS must decide the application within 21 business days unless a longer reasonable period is justified, and SARS may withdraw or invalidate a certificate in specified cases.

This section amends section 257 so that, for tax clearance certificates, the Minister may make regulations about when a certificate is required or issued, its validity period, and related issue or withdrawal procedures.

Existing tax rules, notices, and regulations continue in force after the Act starts, treated as if issued under the equivalent provisions of the Act, but only to the extent they are consistent with the Act and until new rules are issued.

Paragraph 78 of Schedule 1 to the Tax Administration Act, 2011 is deleted.

This provision amends paragraph 167 of Schedule 1 to the Tax Administration Act, 2011, and states when the amendments come into force.