If you were beginning to think income tax had been cancelled this year, think again.
Responding to queries from Personal Finance, some of whose readers could hardly believe their luck in not getting an income tax return this year, the SA Revenue Service (SARS) says though there has been a delay in sending out the returns, they have now all been posted.
So there is no excuse for not paying your taxes by the due date July 12.
Especially since SARS is planning to be even tougher on tax cheats. Flush with the success of a prosecution drive in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern and Western Cape, the management team intends to intensify prosecutions, tighten debt control measures and sharpen its legal teeth.
Though tax revenue collected last year beat budget predictions by R4,4 billion, mostly because of tougher controls, "there is still a high degree of tax evasion and non-compliance," SARS warns.
And if you're an Old Mutual shareholder, you have yet another reason to make sure your tax record is squeaky-clean: if you don't, SARS will simply seize your free shares.
SARS collected R98 million in unpaid taxes from the Sanlam share issue and now holds about 12 million Sanlam shares due to shareholders who still have not got their house in order.