Dear Subscriber,

Dee Bezuidenhout, Editor-in-chief of The Practical Vat Handbook gave a warning in their Vat Bulletin, in which she stresses that you should grab the tax lifeline before you miss the boat!

Dee says that the small business tax amnesty deadline is 31 May 2007, that's only 3 months left and there's no extension! SARS has thrown you a lifeline. It's offering small businesses a chance to become fully tax compliant. This is your opportunity to come clean! Don't waste it! This amnesty takes away the threat of looming penalties, interest or prosecution and allows small businesses to become tax compliant without punishing them for the past. It's also extended to taxi operators who want to sort out their tax affairs to participate in the taxi recapitalisation programme.

TAXtalk's education partner, The International Tax Institute (ITI), is

presenting a tax course on: "Unpacking the Small Business Tax Amnesty"

Some of the important aspects that will be covered in this course are:

• Who does tax amnesty apply to?
• Instances where amnesty will not apply
• General requirements
• Which taxes does amnesty apply to?
• How to apply for amnesty
• What is the effect of a successful amnesty application?

The people who should attend this event are:

• Tax Practitioners
• Accountants and Auditors
• Small business owners
• Members of CC's
• Directors of non listed companies where the shares or members interests are held entirely by natural persons
• Estate executors
• Trustees and beneficiaries of trusts
• Home owners letting a 2nd (or more) homes

Make sure to make your booking NOW. Click here to get detailed information about this event.

Tax Issues
The deadline for the small business tax amnesty is fast approaching. There is still some uncertainty surrounding aspects of the amnesty. Bennie Botha, director: tax and legal services at PriceWaterhouseCoopers discussed this matter on Tax Issues. Click here for a summary of the full interview. Tax Issues is broadcast on Mondays at 20h40 and again at 22h40 on SUMMIT TV (DSTV CHANNEL 55).

Get the TAXtalk Magazine delivered to your postal address, receive a weekly tax electronic newsletter and have 24 hours' access to download TAXtalk information and eBooks.

You can get all this by SUBSCRIBING to TAXtalk for R50.00 per month or R600.00 annually. Click here to subscribe online in less than two minutes.

Until next week.
Head of TAXtalk

SUBSCRIBE to TAXtalk before the small business tax amnesty deadline on 31 May 2007 and receive a FREE TAXtalk Magazine subscription pack and be entered into a prize draw for 5 complimentary seminar seats, to The International Tax Institute's Small Business Tax Amnesty Seminar worth R650.00

Go here to subscribe online in less than two minutes.

Brett Scott - HgIC Financial Coaching

The bull market since 2003 has not only created enormous wealth in South Africa, but has also created irrational expectations from investors based on the 40%-plus average returns over the past several years. The latter stages of a bull market normally suck in the speculators who buy equities because prices are rising and not because fundamentals look attractive.

Mark Korten - KHFG

South Africa has in line with international best practice with regard to remuneration derived from services rendered outside of South Africa by a South African tax resident enacted legislation to exempt remuneration earned outside South Africa from income tax. The general exemption is found in Section 10(1)(o)(ii) to the Income Tax Act.

eTaxJobs is a global job portal exclusively for tax professionals, and an online resource for employers and recruitment firms to advertise their vacancies. eTaxjobs operate in the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and around the World.

Available tax jobs for this week are:

• European VAT Manager, General Electric, London, UK
• Tax Accountant (VAT), The Walt Disney Company, The Netherlands
• Transfer Pricing Specialists, Deloitte, Melbourne, Australia
• Tax Manager/Senior Manager, Sydney Australia
• International Tax Planner, Gibraltar, nr Spain

TAXtalk

The deadline for the small business tax amnesty is fast approaching. There is still some uncertainty surrounding aspects of the amnesty. Bennie Botha, director: tax and legal services at PriceWaterhouseCoopers discussed this matter on Tax Issues.

The first question addressed was the justification behind the amnesty. Bennie explained that it gave small businesses a chance to come clean on the tax front and in doing so, broadened the country’s tax base.

Ettiene Retief - Editor-in-chief - The Practical Tax Handbook

Undoubtedly, by now you have read all about finance minister Trevor Manual´s budget speech and his announced tax proposals. News24, the Mail & Guardian Online, IOL, the Sunday Times and every other reputable media outlet in existence in South Africa has carried some information about the speech.

From personal individual tax to significant company tax changes - the subject is a hotly debated issue throughout South Africa's corporate environment. Tax Issues - every Monday at 20h40pm and again at 22h40pm - demystifies some of the latest developments and issues being discussed in the corridors of power. Tax Issues will cover; The impact of pending new tax laws on individuals and companies, The capital gains tax debate, New SARS initiatives to collect tax Changes to tax benefits, The VAT vs personal tax debate.

Liesl Kruger - Director - Cliffe Dekker Tax

A new anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) became effective on 2 November 2006. The previous version of this legislation has not proven to be an effective deterrent to increasingly complicated and sophisticated tax ""schemes"" which are promoted by financial institutions and implemented by corporate taxpayers across the board.

One of the main concepts introduced by the proposed amendments is that of ""impermissible tax avoidance"". Historically, a distinction was drawn between tax evasion and tax avoidance, the former being illegal non-payment of tax that would properly be chargeable had the taxpayer made a full and true disclosure of income and allowable tax deductions. Avoidance, on the other hand, entails legitimate tax planning; for example, ensuring that a transaction is structured in the most tax efficient manner.

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