With effect from 1 December 2022*, administrative penalties relating to the late submission of a tax return will be charged when one or more tax return(s) relating to tax years from 2007 up to 2020 are outstanding. Prior to this change, taxpayers were only liable for administrative penalties for late submission if they had two or more tax returns outstanding for these tax years.
Incidences of non-compliance subject to a fixed amount penalty:
Individuals (Personal Income Tax) –
From 1 December 2022 if a natural person failed to submit an income tax return for years of assessment from 2007 onwards when that person has one or more income tax returns outstanding.
Companies (Corporate Income Tax) –
Penalties will be imposed where the company has failed to submit an income tax return as and when required under the Income Tax Act for years of assessment ending during the 2009 and subsequent calendar years, where SARS has issued that company with a final demand referring to the public notice and requiring the submission of the outstanding income tax return, and the company failed to submit the return within 21 business days of the date of issue of the final demand.
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the admin penalty it is advisable to submit the outstanding return to stop further admin penalties. The penalty will reoccur for every month the return(s) remains outstanding for a maximum of 35 months.
The administrative non-compliance penalty for the failure to submit a return comprises fixed amount penalties based on a taxpayer's taxable income and can range from R250 up to R16 000 a month for each month that the non-compliance continues
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.