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South Africa: SARS Warns Employers of Looming Paye Audit
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
2 July 2008
Posted to the web 2 July 2008
Sanchia Temkin
Johannesburg
EMPLOYERS who submit false pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax declarations to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) may be audited as far back as 30 years by the taxman, said Edward Kieswetter, chief operations officer at SARS.
"Employers who supply false or fraudulent information may face criminal charges for tax evasion," Kieswetter said at a media briefing yesterday.
SARS launched an awareness campaign yesterday to mark the beginning of an important phase of SA's income tax system. From yesterday all employers had to submit their annual reconciled accounts and payments made to SARS for taxes deducted from the salaries of their employees.
Dr Robin Beale, practising consultant and tax specialist at PKF Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, said: "The changes SARS is introducing make absolute sense as they will streamline the whole e-filing process for personal income tax returns. This includes reducing errors so often made when information is manually transferred.
"We're moving towards a system similar to that in the US and other developed countries, where the onus is on the taxpayers to assess their own tax liabilities," Beale said.
Employers have until August 29 to complete and submit their reconciliation declarations along with copies of all employee tax certificates to SARS.
SARS commissioner Pravin Gordhan said the tax system was undergoing simplification.
Individual taxpayers would now receive a customised, prepared tax return on request from SARS which is intended to make filing of returns simpler.
The customised, prepared tax return would contain information from third parties, such as a taxpayer's employer, bank and insurance company. The data is based on SARS' records of taxpayers' income, assets, liabilities and deductions.
With the new system, there would be two filing seasons: one for individuals and one for employers.
From yesterday all SARS branch offices would provide employers with free computer software, Gordhan said.
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The software was not intended to replace any existing payroll system.
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