Dear Subscriber,

I have just returned from a trip abroad and it is amazing that it takes a shift out of one´s comfort zone to realise how good you actually have it in your own country. We tend to take the good that we have for granted because of the expectation that it will always be there. The saying is so true “you won´t miss it untill it is gone”. I became homesick after a few days and pondered on the thought that nothing is as good as home - no matter how bad we tend to think it is.

There was no newsletter last week but we have put together a bumper issue for you to read.

There are some exciting changes with regard to the 2006/2007 tax submissions. A new income tax assessment process has been put in place by SARS this filing season.

According to the SARS website, the new income tax assessment process marks the start of an exciting journey for the organisation and for taxpayers. Honest taxpayers should have nothing to fear or dread about the income tax filing process. It is simply the finalisation of the previous year´s tax affairs to check that they have paid what is due under the law. This year, there is a new income tax assessment process. This is in line with SARS´s compliance model obligation to provide continuously improving service, to simplify processes and procedures, to consistently put in place mechanisms which will allow honest taxpayers to comply easily and dishonest taxpayers to be detected easily. The tax submission dead-

line is now 31 October 2007 and no further extension will be granted as per Trevor Manuel´s media statement.

Read more about filing your tax returns this year on the SARS website: http://www.sars.gov.za

Tax Issues
With the deadline for submitting tax returns just around the corner, Daniel Erasmus spoke to Gavin Goërtz of efg, firm of tax attorneys in the programme Tax Issues. Issues raised in the programme dealt with proper disclosure and the consequences of not coming clean. 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).

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Until next week.
Janine Connor
Head of TAXtalk

Adv Peter H OHalloran, TAXADV CC

Section 13 of the Small Business Tax Amnesty and Taxation Amendment Act, 9 of 2006 reads as follows:

Waiver of additional tax, penalty and interest (1) The Minister may by regulation prescribe the circumstances upon which the Commissioner may waive, in whole or in part, any amount of additional tax, penalty or interest payable in respect of any year of assessment, dividend cycle, tax period or month ending during the qualifying period ...

Interview with Sobantu Ndlangalavu

It is human nature to have a reactive, rather than a proactive approach to paying tax. To get small businesses into the tax net before 31 May 2007, the deadline for the small business tax amnesty, is a mammoth task that calls for an ingenious new approach to spreading information and educating small business owners to join the ranks of taxpaying South Africans.

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:

• Transfer Pricing Consultants/Managers/Senior Managers, Vancouver & Calgary, Canada
• Tax Executive, Transfer Pricing, Global Brand, Ireland
• International Structuring Consultant, Manchester, UK
• US Tax Support, VP, US Investment Bank, London, UK
• Opportunity for Tax Supervisor to move to Zambia
• Opportunity for Tax Supervisor/Manager to move to Zambia
• Hedge Fund Tax Accountant, Cargill, MidWest, USA
• Tax Lawyer, Leading US Law Firm, London, UK
• Transfer Pricing Senior Manager, Investment Bank, London, UK
• Transfer Pricing Manager/Senior Manager, Sydney, Melbourne & Perth, Australia

Sanchia Temkin, Professional Editor - Business Day

Foreign soccer stars playing in the 2010 World Cup will be taxed on any income that they earn in the tournament, says tax consultant Eugene Bendel.

Interview with Gavin Goërtz of efg Attorneys & Conveyancers - Summit TV

With the deadline for submitting tax returns just around the corner, Daniel Erasmus spoke to Gavin Goërtz of efg Attorneys & Conveyancers, firm of tax attorneys in the programme Tax Issues, broadcast on Summit TV on Monday night 8th May 2006. Issues raised in the programme dealt with proper disclosure and the consequences of not coming clean.

Ettiene Retief, Editor-in-chief - The Practical Tax Handbook - Fleet Street Productions

“So much of our time is preparation, so much is routine, and so much retrospect, that the path of each man`s genius contracts itself to a very few hours.“ This is a rather profound comment made by the well known American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Sanchia Temkin, Professional Services Editor - Business Day

A small entrepreneurial laundry business is changing the conventional way of thinking and proving a tough challenger to big business in the process.

First National Bank (FNB)

Leaders from South Africa´s franchise industry agree the industry has reached a new stage and appropriate planning should be done to ensure the next phase in the industry`s development achieves what the country needs.

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.

Do you have something to say? Do you have an area of interest or expertise that you believe is something you can contribute for the interest of our readers? Do you want to share your views with like-minded people?

If so, send your submissions by email to (janine@taxtalk.co.za), fax (27 11 476 5004) or post (P.O. Box 1650, Gallo Manor 2052) and be heard!

We will publish the best stories and viewpoints on our website &/or in our weekly newsletter.