In this bulletin:

• If you’re registered with any professional bodies, your taxes had better be squeaky clean
• Hire a disabled learner and get R50 000 back!
• No tax clearance, no binding ruling
• Have you given SARS your blood sample, fingerprints and passport photos?
• How to differentiate private and business travel when you work from home?

Dear reader

I’ve been busy with the evaluation forms from the Ultimate Tax Survival Workshop 2010, which we held almost a month ago. Not only is the feedback generally great, but the Workshop made delegates more tax savvy too…

I‘d like to share some of the interesting highlights with you, so you can be tax smart too!

1.    If you’re registered with any professional bodies, your taxes better be squeaky clean

SARS has decided that if you’re affiliated to a professional body, then it’s only right that your own taxes are 100% in order. I imagine it’s quite embarrassing to be stripped of your official membership, because of tax evasion…

If you want to be sure that your records are spotless, contact SARS, and ask them for a statement of your account. If there is anything to be worried about, you’ll see it on that statement, and you can fix it before it becomes a problem.

2.    Hire a disabled “learner” and get R50 000 back!

SARS has proposed a learnership deduction. If your company hires a learner (e.g. an intern), it’ll get a R30 000 deduction upfront, and then another R30 000 for every year of service completed thereafter.

If the person is disabled, you’ll get an extra R20 000 added to that deduction.

Speaking of deductions, here’s how to make the most of lesser-known loopholes…

3.    No tax clearance, no binding ruling

That’s right. If you don’t get a tax clearance to prove your taxes and finances are in order, then SARS won’t give you a binding ruling when you ask for it.

Remember: You need to apply for tax clearance, with a TCC 001 form. Download one here, now.

4.    Have you given SARS your blood sample, fingerprints and passport photos?

If SARS gets its way, then all taxpayers will have to submit biometric information to SARS. Think finger prints and passport photos. This is part of a move by SARS to crack down on fraudsters and identity thieves.

5.    How to differentiate between private and business travel when you work from home

There are a lot of entrepreneurs who work from home. They’ll visit say, one or two clients in a day. And there’s always confusion about how to differentiate business km, from private km. This is especially because the tax law says that the trip between home and work is generally considered private travel.

Here’s what our experts say: Count the first and last trip you make that day as private travel. Any other trips you make for work purposes will count as business travel.

And if you’re really clever, you’ll make sure you always start and end the day’s appointments at the client who stays closest to your home! That way, you’ll keep your private expenses to a minimum…

Keep these tips handy, to stay out of tax trouble…

Until next time,

Fulvia Becatti
Managing Editor: Practical Tax Loose Leaf & Practical Vat Loose Leaf