Tax registration: Easier than ever?

In an effort to combat cyber crime and reduce red tape, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) introduced a single tax registration system for individual taxpayers and companies this month. The single tax registration system has been in the pipeline for some time. It is also aimed at reducing red tape for small business.

Once in full force, the system will allow new taxpayers to submit a tax registration application (at a Sars branch) only once. Any additional tax registrations for income tax, value-added tax (VAT), pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) or customs and excise will be available through the eFiling platform.

Tax registration: Easier than ever? (‘Taxes Ahead’, photo credit: efile989)

The introduction will only affect new registrations – taxpayers who are already registered do not need to reregister. They will only be affected in cases where an additional registration – for example for VAT – has to be added to their profile.

The initial introduction has not been without its teething problems. Although the new system is essentially aimed at new registrations snags generally related to existing ones. Especially tax practitioners experienced some challenges.

It will also enhance security, as it will verify which parties are allowed access to the taxpayer’s records. This could potentially include the taxpayer and his tax practitioner and in the case of a company the public officer (the representative taxpayer).

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