JANUARY 2010INTRODUCTION Welcome
to yet another decade. It is our hope that it will be one of
prosperity, health and happiness for all our readers. TECHNOLOGY In
times of tough economic conditions, many of us may wish to look
for more cost effective purchasing. Here are a few websites that
may help in reducing outlays: www.thinkmoney.co.za
offers comparison of various rewards programmes www.amazingvouchers.com
has free offers and specials from shops nationwide www.ces.org.za
- a barter site www.pricecheck.co.za
compares prices on electronic and home appliances. www.jump.co.za
is a similar site. As
we get older, the icons in MS Office applications may start to be
less difficult to distinguish. This also holds true when making a
presentation or when explaining the various functions to a client.
To enlarge the icons, right click on any of the toolbars, then
chose customize. In the customize window, select the options tab
and place a tick in the large icons box. The icons will appear
roughly double the normal size. To revert to normal size, simply
untick the large icons box. TAXATION Refund
E In
some instances, refund may take a considerable time to reach the
taxpayer. A number of reasons have been advanced for this:
Therefore,
if we provide you with an assessment reflecting a refund and the
amount is not deposited to your account within thirty days of the
second date appearing on the assessment, be sure to contact us. 2010
IRP5 information requirements Ensure
that, where possible, you have captured the following information
for all your employees before submitting tax certificates for
2009/2010: o
Employee Surname and First Two Names o
Employee ID Number o
Employee Passport Number and Country where the passport was
issued. o
Employee Date of Birth o
Employee Income Tax Reference Number o
Employee Contact Telephone Number – Home, Business, Fax or Cell o
Employee Residential Address o
Employee Bank Account details Further
details of the requirements may be found at http://www.pastelpayroll.co.za/guidlines/Employer
Filing Season 20092010 - All SA Businesses.pdf 2009
Returns deadline On
26 February, time runs out for all efiling taxpayers. In fact, for
those who need to submit income statements and have not yet
provided us with their financial records, it is possible that we
will be unable to meet the deadline. Regrettably, due to the
volume involved, we will have to deal with those returns on a
first come first served basis. Those who do not meet the deadline will
be penalised based on the table that was published with our July
2009 issue - see www.accounting4.co.za/snippets.htm. COMPANIES
ACT Regulations,
totalling 235 pages, governing the administration of the new act
have been published for comment. Comment must be submitted by no
later than 1 March 2010. Currently, we are studying these to
assess the impact on our clients who conduct their businesses
through private companies or are considering converting their
Clsoe Corporations into companies. One of the burdens that is
imposed is where a company trades whilst its assets are exceeded
by its liabilities. If this is the case, the company must file a
form with the Companies Commission and must do so on a quarterley
basis until such time as solvency is restored. Generally,
companies that have an accumulated loss are likely to fall into
this category. The forms themselves have not been published as
yet. However, given government’s propensity for creating
administrative burdens for small business, it may well be
advisable, for this reason alone, for small private companies to
convert to Close Corporations. They must do this before the new
Act comes into force, possibly, in July 2010. ECONOMY
Whilst
economists agree that the tide has turned with respect to
recession, the strength of the rand is inhibiting the rate of
economic growth. Consequently, it is unlikely that their will be a
significant increase in job creation during 2010. In the meantime,
the increase in factory output, as measured by the PPI, is likely
to be offset by the fuel price and Escom tariff increases. Escom
should reassess their program of electrification and align it with
actual demand rather than decide to electrify a particular area
because it looks good politically – the economic reality is that
the price hikes necessary to finance this programme are damaging
job creation. In addition, offshore investors are unlikely to be
keen in investing in a country where their margins will be
drastically decreased on an annual basis despite the increases
allegedly being necessary to increase supply in order to prevent
load shedding for the manufacturing sector. Of course, the
publicity surrounding the former CEO’s R 85 million claim
against the utility does not help its overseas image. DEAD Promotion
of Access to Information Act- 31 December 2011 Annual
Duty – end
of the month following incorporation date Electronic
submission of tax returns by companies and close corporations – 26
February 2010 Consumer
Protection Act – October 2010 New
Companies Act – no new CC registrations – approx. July 2010 REMINDER “Snippets” is designed to
keep readers abreast of developments affecting their daily
business life. It contains important legislative changes of which
the reader should be aware. As it is not financially feasible for
us to communicate these changes to clients as and when they occur,
each month, a copy of this newsletter is posted on our website, www.accounting4.co.za.
Therefore, it is advisable for you to access this site on a
regular basis. Readers who do not have internet connectivity are
welcome to request us to post them a copy. TAILPIECE “Nothing
in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and
conscientious stupidity.” (Dr Martin Luther King Jr) |
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