Unless you are retired, chances are life isn’t getting any slower. You have work commitments, family responsibilities and community engagements, making your daily to-do list look more like a task list for the entire month. If you are one of the many South Africans that are more familiar with SARS forms than your own children, you may like to know the alternatives to spending the last of your precious time, completing SARS paperwork.
As you will know, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the tax-collecting agency for the government and therefore by necessity, they have to provide a means for the general public to communicate their income so they can calculate the amount of tax they need to pay. This is where the array of paperwork was introduced, allowing the man on the street to be able to complete this function.
While SARS does their best at making the process as simple as possible, the average Joe isn’t an accountant and understandably doesn’t necessarily understand the intricacies of completing a form accurately. This is overlooked by most and if you are completing forms yourself, this lack of understanding could mean you are:
- Paying more tax than necessary
- Not paying enough tax and exposing yourself to liability including penalties or even prosecution
- Using a business structure that is inefficient for your needs and costing you money
- And more
Here is an example to make it a little clearer. Most people don’t think twice about sending their car in for a service. Even though the parts are easily available and you could complete the service yourself, you understand the value in hiring a professional to do the job. The same is true for tax. However it seems to evade common knowledge that the benefits often far exceed the cost.
You can have the best intentions to service the car yourself but it can still lead to unwanted scenarios like breakdowns. Just like completing SARS forms yourself can lead to paying too much or too little tax, opening you up to liability.
If you think about it, this is one of the most important areas where you should hire a professional to assist you.
If you are interested in finding out how Dirmeik Consulting can help you or your business, contact Brett on 021 421 4444.
SARS All forms resource:
If you are confident to complete forms yourself, below is a handy link to search for any SARS form:
