TaxTim's Blog

Is My Life Insurance Claim Taxed in South Africa?

A pressing concern for many South Africans is whether or not the taxman gets a chunk of the money when the life insurance policy pays out. It’s a big stre

Tax-Efficient Wealth Protection: Understanding Life Insurance with TaxTim

While it might seem like a morbid topic at first, understanding life insurance is pretty important to safeguarding your family's financial future. Life insuranc

How Does Tax Work on a Life Insurance Policy in South Africa

Delving into tax laws and understanding their impact on life insurance doesn’t have to be headache. At TaxTim, we're here to simplify the world of tax and

Recent updates to the Company Tax Return (ITR14)

The updated ITR14 on eFiling has some new sections, and one that often raises questions is the part about share classes. Although it might seem confusing, it's

Here is the process to follow if you have a dormant company

It seems that dormant companies are on SARS' radar. If you registered a company with CIPC some time ago and forgot about it, that company could land you in hot

How to set up a payment arrangement with SARS

With the end of the tax year looming, SARS tax collectors are on high alert to collect taxes and meet their revenue targets. If you owe SARS, you should be rec

Track your tax return on the SARS website

SARS have recently introduced a new way to track your tax return online via the SARS website. See TaxTim's step-by-step guide to help you nagivate this new pro

The new SARS auto-assessment

Step 1: If you have been auto-assessed by SARS, you may see the screen below when you log into SARS eFiling. Please click on "View". You may also see

Payment for asking a Tax Question

Why am I receiving a request for payment for asking a tax question? During the process of assisting taxpayers with the completion and submission of their tax r

A beginner's guide to investing in South Africa

You are doing well. You are earning enough money to cover your monthly expenses, and have some extra cash remaining at the end of each month. You could keep tha

After all my documents submissions to SARS, they disallowed my expenses, why?

We are starting to see some common trends whereby taxpayers’ expenses are disallowed because the documents submitted are falling short of SARS’s req

Tax-Efficient Wealth Protection: Understanding Life Insurance

Life insurance: it sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry, right? However, just like that fresh coat of paint protects your walls from wear and tear, li

How to buy your first property

The thought of buying a house can be daunting. It might seem almost impossible when you are just getting started. But like any financial goal, you can achieve i

Tax Season 2023

The 2023 filing season opens this year at 8pm on Friday, 7 July. The countdown's on, it's almost here! It is important to be aware that the season is sho

Don't file on SARS eFiling before 7 July

Last year, we noticed that many taxpayers filed their tax returns before the tax season officially began (i.e July). However, doing so caused delays and problem

Why refund/tax liability estimations may differ from the SARS calculator and final SARS ITA34 assessment

TaxTim and SARS use all the financial information you provide to work out the most accurate estimate of your potential refund (or tax liability) for the current

9 Steps to File an Objection to Your Tax Assessment

You’ve been diligent with your tax obligations, you’ve paid your PAYE (employees tax) each month without fail, you’ve kept all the supporting

Auto-Assessed Taxpayers Alert

SARS has given you just 40 working days to submit your tax return. If you received your auto-assessment at the beginning of July, your time to submit has alread

Should I file a dormant return?

Are you confused about whether your company should file a dormant return or a normal ITR14 for companies? It's understandable - dormancy can be a tricky concept

Dormant Company Tax Returns

If you've registered a company with CIPC some time ago and forgot about it, that company could land you in hot water with SARS. Even if the company is not act

11 Types of Tax Directives

Everything you need to know about tax-free savings

The South African government introduced tax-free savings back in 2015 to encourage household savings. As the name suggests, all of the proceeds from tax-free sa

Budget 2023: New Energy Tax Incentives

Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, delivered his second budget speech to South Africans yesterday. The energy crisis played centre stage with the minister anno

How to cash out your retirement annuity after emigrating from South Africa

Retirement annuities are tax-smart investments that help you to save for life after your nine-to-five. You generally can’t withdraw these funds before you

Why have I received a SARS refund, before filing my tax return?

This year, SARS has once again ‘auto-assessed’ a large number of taxpayers. They have done this using data that they have received from 3rd par