Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Thursday asked Parliament to extend the window period of the Small Business Tax Amnesty by another month, to June 30.
He made the request while tabling the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill that will, among other tax policy changes, provide over R8,8-billion-worth of personal income-tax relief.
The changes, which also include the repeal of the tax on retirement funds, enabling long-term savings for pension, provident funds and individual retirement annuities to grow tax-free, were announced in Manuel’s 2007 budget speech.
Manuel noted in his speech to Parliament on Thursday that the South African Revenue Service had received 275Â 398 amnesty applications from small businesses by June 2.
He added that from the experience over the last two weeks — during which an additional two days were allowed for submissions — and from interviews conducted with applicants, it had become clear that many businesses wanted to become tax compliant and make their entities legal.
“I also met five organisations on Monday this week who presented their case for requesting an extension. Those businesses that could not make the initial deadline will benefit from a short extension,” Manuel said. — I-Net Bridge