{"id":542,"date":"2018-06-25T11:38:36","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T09:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sage-new-clone.local\/en-za\/blog\/?p=426"},"modified":"2026-03-04T17:51:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:51:48","slug":"tax-filing-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/tax-filing-season\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s tax filing season again \u2013 are you ready?"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/category\/strategy-legal-operations\/compliance\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Compliance<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s tax filing season again \u2013 are you ready?\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2018-06-25T11:38:36+02:00\">June 25, 2018<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"It\u2019s tax filing season again \u2013 are you ready?\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/tax-filing-season\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/author\/deshikamoodley\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/10\/Desh.png\" class=\"entry-author__image\" height=\"40\" width=\"40\" fetchpriority=\"high\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Deshika Moodley<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Tax season for individuals and entities such as trusts, institutions, boards and bodies kicks off on 1 July this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is some advice about how to stay on the South African Revenue Service\u2019s (SARS\u2019s) good side and take the pain out of filing your income tax return for the 2017\/18 tax year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-get-your-supporting-documents-together-as-soon-as-possible\"><strong>Get your supporting documents together as soon as possible<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Depending on the complexity of your tax affairs, you might need to collect documents from several sources to get ready to file your tax return. Some examples of the documents you may require include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>IRP5 certificate\/s from your employer reflecting your income and tax deductions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Certificates from your banks, retirement annuity providers and investment firms reflecting your interest earned, capital gains and losses, and retirement funding contributions for the year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your medical aid contribution certificates and receipts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your vehicle logbook if you receive a travel allowance, use a company car or wish to claim travel expenses against income you earned during the year (here\u2019s SARS\u2019s recommended&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sars.gov.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/Docs\/Logbook\/2021-22-SARS-eLogbook.pdf\">template<\/a>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 18A certificates for donations made to registered charities and non-profit organisations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Details about any income you earned on top of your salary (rent, freelance work, etc), and any expenses you are claiming against this income (such as phone costs, inventory, travel, etc).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Financial statements, should you be a sole proprietor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All information relating to capital gains transactions, such as sale of a property or business.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are self-employed and operate as a sole proprietor rather than a registered company, you will file a personal income tax return. Remember to file bills and invoices for any expenses you plan to claim, should SARS select you for an audit. It would be worth the consideration to pay an accountant to prepare an income statement for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-file-as-early-as-you-can\"><strong>File as early as you can<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Filing your personal income tax return can be time-consuming and you may encounter snags such as requests for further paperwork or information from SARS. It\u2019s wise to file early to avoid the stress of compiling paperwork with a just a day to go before the final deadline. Important deadlines are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Non-provisional taxpayers<\/strong>&nbsp;have until 31 October 2018 to file their annual income tax returns.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Provisional taxpayers who use eFiling<\/strong>&nbsp;have until 31 January 2019 to file.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Both provisional and non-provisional taxpayers<\/strong>&nbsp;that submit manually at a SARS office must file returns by 21 September.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-consider-getting-a-tax-practitioner-to-help\"><strong>Consider getting a tax practitioner to help<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Filing a tax return can be laborious and complex, especially if you have several income streams, taxable deductions, and investments to track. It\u2019s often worth paying a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesait.org.za\/search\/Default.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;registered tax practitioner<\/a>&nbsp;to file the correct return for you and to give you advice about how you can legally reduce the amount of tax you pay.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to the Sage Advice enewsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-84fe79b5-668d-41f8-a0cc-6229018c4ac9\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1181404518-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1181404518-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\tTax season for individuals and entities such as trusts, institutions, boards and bodies kick off on 1 July this year.  Here is some advice about how to stay on the South African Revenue Service\u2019s (SARS) good side and take the pain out of filing your income tax return for the 2017\/8 tax year.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":342,"featured_media":398,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"sage_hide_published_date":false,"sage_hide_read_time":false,"sage_hide_share_buttons":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,25],"tags":[321,213],"business_type":[2,3,5],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[6,8,13,15],"imagine_tag":[51,73],"coauthors":[421],"class_list":["post-542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compliance","category-money-matters","tag-compliance","tag-tax","business_type-small-business","business_type-medium-business","business_type-accountants"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-za","author_name":"Deshika Moodley","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/04\/GettyImages-612505724_super.jpg","imagine_tags":{"51":"Accountants","73":"Money Matters"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice South Africa","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/342"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}