Throughout the audit of a set of financial statements, the phrase “management/director’s responsibility” appears. It is included in the engagement letter, the financial statements and the auditor’s report. But what does it mean? Management is responsible for the management of
Changing banking details with SARS
In order to prevent fraud, the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) requires confirmation of new or any changes to existing banking details and will only process any refunds due once these new details have been verified. (This often leads to
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency and blockchain has been the hot topic in the media the past year. It is a concept that few truly understand, and could change the future for everyone in a major way. But what is cryptocurrency and blockchain? Per
Budget 2018: It’s a numbers game
South Africa’s budget paints a very interesting picture when one drills down into the numbers involved. The annual national budget presented in Parliament on 21 February 2018 by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba presented South Africa’s biggest budget yet, providing for
Interest free loans and trusts
The recent introduction of section 7C to the Income Tax Act[1] brought the taxation of trusts, and the funding thereof specifically, under the spotlight again. Briefly, section 7C seeks to levy donations tax on loans owing by trusts to connected
Proposed tax amendments for venture capital investments
The latest round of legislative amendments proposed by National Treasury and released for public comment on 8 July 2016 contains a welcome concession for taxpayers looking to invest into approved venture capital companies. Briefly, investors investing into qualifying venture capital
Crunching the numbers: Budget 2017
It is an astounding exercise to go through the numbers behind the annual national budget presented recently and to start to understand what it is that the various tax changes are aimed at achieving. On 22 February 2017, Finance Minister
Dire provisional tax penalties on underestimation of income
Provisional taxpayers are generally those taxpayers who earn income from sources other than a salary. In other words, PAYE is not deducted from these other sources of income on a monthly basis and paid over to SARS. As is the
Exchange control implications for branching out
As globalisation becomes an increasing commercial factor, a great many of our clients also find themselves branching out their operations and activities beyond the borders of South Africa, primarily into Southern Africa but often also beyond. Funding such initiatives may
Capital gains and cancelled sales
Many transactions in terms in which assets are sold are subject to suspensive conditions. In terms of such agreements, the sales transaction will only take place once all the suspensive conditions have been met.[1] Many other agreements may however be