SACCI received correspondence from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) remind members that the current administrative penalties imposed by SARS will change from 7 December 2018.
As from 7 December 2018, punitive administrative penalties will be imposed for late Corporate Income Tax (CIT) returns. These penalties will be raised regarding section 210 of the Tax Administration Act, and the required gazette will be issued in terms of section 210 (2) of that Act. This will result in SARS imposing administrative penalties on over 300 000 companies who failed to submit their annual CIT returns.
SARS will issue letters to affected companies reflecting heir returns statuses, to ensure they are adequately informed. The letters will only be a proactive, friendly reminder, which will be followed up with a final demand letter 7 December 2018, and after that, penalties will be levied.
SARS said that they were comfortable that their systems had been enhanced to facilitate the process seamlessly. SARS frontline service staff has been trained to deal with these and related queries and has been prepared to continue serving taxpayers.
MCCI urges members to verify with their accountants, auditors that their Income Tax Returns were submitted in time.