SARS has also paid back more than R6bn in refunds to more than a million taxpayers‚ also increasing on the number and value of refunds paid last year.
SARS says the annual tax season serves as an important indicator of the level of compliance of South African taxpayers. The punitive penalty regime introduced a few years ago is the main driver behind the growing number of tax returns being filed on time - and those outstanding being filed sooner rather than later.
SARS spokesman Adrian Lackay said at the launch of filing season on 1 July that SARS had received 5.66m tax returns on time in 2012‚ a 16% rise on the previous year.
Nearly 1.4m outstanding returns were filed during the 2012 tax season‚ a 25% increase on the previous year.
In a statement on Wednesday (14 August)‚ Lackay said the accreditation of controlling bodies for tax practitioners had been a key priority for SARS in this tax season. It was necessary to provide a framework that would ensure that tax practitioners were appropriately qualified and that a mechanism was available‚ both to taxpayers and SARS‚ to address misconduct.
The second phase of the regulatory process would be the establishment of an independent regulatory board for tax practitioners. Lackay said 2‚671 tax practitioners had completed new registrations‚ and 10‚515 practitioners had updated their existing registrations.
Taxpayers who submit returns manually have until 27 September to do so. Taxpayers who file their returns electronically and earn their income from one employer have until 22 November‚ while those who have other forms of employment or additional income such as investments‚ rentals or royalties have until 31 January next year.
Taxpayers whose gross income is less than R250‚000 no longer need to file a tax return‚ depending on whether they only earn one salary from one employer‚ have no additional forms of income and no claims for medical‚ retirement annuity contributions or travel expenses.
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