Pinetown Accountants - Tax Consultant and Accounting Services in Durban South Africa                                   

Provisional Tax is Here to Assist You

Provisional Tax is a system that allows a taxpayer to provide for their final tax debt in advance, and is one of the many services that your tax specialist is able to assist you with to ensure tax compliance. A provisional taxpayer is required to make two advance payments during the tax year, with a third payment determined on assessment.

These payments are determined as follows:

  • First Payment - the first payment is due 6 months before the end of year. For example, if year-end is February 2012, the first payment is due by the end of 31 August 2012.
  • Second Payment - the second payment is due on the last day of the financial year. For example, if the year-end is February 2012, this payment is due by 29 February 2012.
  • Third payment - the third payment is due 7 months after year-end. For example, if year-end is February 2012, the third payment is due by 30 September 2013)

Provisional Tax Requirements

As your professional accountants will advise, a taxpayer is obligated to register for provisional tax if they meet the following requirements:
  • Any individual who earns business income or farming income.
  • Any director of a private company if that director is a resident.
  • Any member of a close corporation if that member is a resident.
  • Any company.
  • Any person who is notified by the Commissioner that he/she is a provisional taxpayer.
  • Any individual who derives taxable interest dividends and rental income.
  • An individual who is 65 years and older will be exempt from paying provisional tax if his/her taxable income does not exceed a specified amount.
  • An individual under 65 years who only receives a salary and interest from a South African bank will only qualify as a provisional taxpayer for the 2011 year of assessment if the total interest received exceeds R20 000 for the year.

    Provisional tax is intended to assist taxpayers to meet their tax liabilities on an on-going basis as an alternative to paying a large amount once a year on assessment.

    Please bear in mind that this is a simple guide - to ensure that you meet SARS deadlines for total tax compliance, you need an accountant such as PATC who can effectively manage your tax requirements.