/ 28 August 2007

Small business tax-amnesty deadline looms

Small businesses that have applied for tax amnesty must submit the required documents by Friday, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) said on Tuesday.

”After the deadline Sars will commence with enforcement actions against taxpayers who have either not applied for amnesty or submitted an incomplete application,” Sars spokesperson Yolisa Pikie said on Tuesday.

The amnesty’s success showed that many South Africans wanted to comply with tax obligations, with 275 000 applications received by June 2, he said.

”Many small businesses are, however, at risk of not receiving amnesty because they have not submitted the outstanding documents before the August 31 2007 deadline.”

The deadline was not for new applications but for the submission of a 2006 tax return and financial statements to complete the amnesty applications, he said.

Pikie said Sars had done ”all it can to reach and encourage small businesses to take advantage of the amnesty opportunity”.

Office hours would be extended to assist applicants to complete outstanding documents.

”There are only three days left for businesses to submit the required documents.” — Sapa