Income Tax refers to a number of different tax types, including Standard Income Tax on Employees (SITE), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Provisional Tax, etc. A tax year, often also referred to as the year of assessment, covers a 12-month period. For companies, this period aligns with the company’s financial year, and for individuals and Trusts the year commences on 1 March and ends at the end of February the following year. Submission deadlines also differ for different taxpayers and are as follows:

• Individual and Trust Tax Returns (for non-provisional taxpayers): for postal (paper) submission, these returns need to be completed and submitted by the last working day of September. If completing a return electronically (via SARS’ eFiling system), the deadline is usually at the end of November.
• Individual and Trust Tax Returns (for provisional taxpayers): the submission deadline for this group of taxpayers is usually at the end of January.
• Company Tax Returns: these returns should always be completed and submitted within 12 months of the company’s financial year-end.

Unsure whether you should register for Income Tax? SARS has declared that all individuals receiving any type of employment income should register for Income Tax to minimise tax fraud and non-compliance.

You do not need to submit an income tax return of ALL of the below criteria apply to you:

• Your total employment income / salary for the year before tax (gross income) was not more than R500 000; and
  You only received employment income / salary for the full year of assessment from one employer; and
• You have no car allowance/company car/ travel allowance or other income (e.g. interest or rental income); and
• You are not claiming tax related deductions/rebates (e.g. medical expenses, retirement annuity contributions other than pension contributions made by your employer, travel).