On 28 July 2021, the National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have invited the public to comment by no later than 28 August 2021 on the second batch of the 2021 Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and 2021 Draft Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill (TALAB), the 2021 draft Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill (2021 draft Rates Bill), and the 2021 draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (2021 draft TLAB). These draft tax bills contain tax proposals made in the 2021 Budget on 24 February 2021. The 2021 tax bills will be introduced in Parliament later this year.
2021 draft Rates Bill
Key tax proposals contained in this Bill include the following:
• Changes in rates and monetary thresholds to the personal income tax tables.
• Increases of the excise duties on alcohol and tobacco.
2021 draft TLAB Bill
The Bill includes the following issues:
- Strengthening the rules dealing with limitation of interest deductions in respect of debt owed to persons not subject to tax.
- Restricting the set-off of the balance of assessed losses in determining taxable income.
- Refining the time frames of compliance requirements of the industrial policy projects tax incentive.
- Curbing the abuse of the Employment Tax Incentive.
- Applying tax on retirement fund interest when an individual ceases to be a tax resident.
- Strengthening anti-avoidance rules in respect of loans between trusts.
- Refinements to the corporate re-organization rules.
- Clarifying the scope and definition of carbon sequestration.
2021 draft TALAB Bill
The Bill include the following issues:
• Administrative non-compliance penalties based on estimates for non-submission of six-monthly employees’ tax returns.
• Removal of double-penalty for the same incidence of non-compliance relating to employees’ tax.
• Expanding the purposes for which air cargo may be removed to de-grouping depots.
• Amendments related to changes in the accreditation system.
• Increasing the caps for refunds and underpayments of duties.
