January 2015 Deadline for Income Tax Returns – 2014 Assessment Year
The tax season for taxpayers, except companies for which the year of assessment ended on the 28th of February 2014, ends on the 30th of January 2015. This leaves very little time to submit your returns.
Who Should Submit Income Tax Returns?
Anyone, whether you are a resident or non-resident trust or business – if you have participated in trade or derived capital gain or service income from a source in the country, must according to SARS submit an income tax return for the 2014 year of assessment. If you are a non-resident of the country, but your gross income was derived from interest which came from a non-tax-exempt resident in South Africa, you are also required to submit your income tax returns for the period.
Which Deadlines Apply?
The 30th of January 2015 deadline applies to provisional taxpayers using the SARS electronic filing system known as eFiling. The non-provisional taxpayers had until the 21st of November 2014 to submit their tax returns, while trusts, juristic persons and individuals using the manual submission method had until the 26th of September 2014 to comply with income tax return submission requirements.
Who is Eligible for Tax Assessment?
All individuals younger than 65 with a gross income of more than R67 111, individuals between the ages of 65 and 75 with a gross income of more than R104 611 and individuals in the over 75 years age group with gross income of more than R17 111 for the 2014 year of assessment are eligible for tax contributions. There are exceptions regarding such, for example, an individual with gross income less than R250 00 for the tax assessment year, provided the income was been derived from a single employer; the income was for the full tax year of assessment and the individual hasn’t received any subsistence or other allowance from the employer, which has not yet been declared. The individual must still submit a tax return if any deductions need to be claimed.
What Happens if the Deadline is Missed?
Anyone that qualifies for having to submit a tax return and who hasn’t submitted their income tax returns on or before the prescribed deadlines may be liable for payment of a fine and/or imprisonment. SARS also has the right to impose further penalties.
What is the Solution?
If you haven’t completed and submitted your income tax returns for the 2014 year of assessment yet, do so promptly. Contact us for immediate professional assistance in completing the returns accurately and submitting such to SARS.