When to register your business for VAT

There’s a compulsory threshold, but there may be advantages to voluntary registration. Value-added Tax (VAT) registration is a crucial obligation for businesses operating in South Africa. Knowing when to register for VAT is essential to comply with tax laws and avoid penalties. This article discusses the circumstances under which businesses must register for VAT in […]

Testamentary trusts still have their place

How you can protect your assets from predators—including SARS TRUSTS HAVE received a lot of bad press over the past few years, what with SARS taking a dim view of the use of trusts as a means of avoiding tax. A 2008 case involving a property trust, where the beneficiaries were changed in the hope […]

Is a maintenance payment a ‘donation’?

Helping someone out may be exempt from donations tax—but as always, the devil is in the detail… Donations tax is one of those strange taxes where people often question its existence.  After all, why would SARS be so mean as to want to tax someone’s generosity?  The main reason is estate duty—or, more specifically, the […]

Unforeseen tax debt from crypto trading

Landing in a position of indebtedness to SARS can be quite a stressful journey on its own ─ but if you forget to leave room in your suitcase for the tax on your crypto profits or gains, the destination becomes all that more daunting. If you have engaged in crypto trading, even as a hobby, […]