Reasons you must file a 2024 tax return even if your income is under R500
Although SARS may prefer you not to, failing to file a 2024 tax return could cause you to miss out on a substantial refund. Here’s why…
As many South Africans know, the filing period for non-provisional taxpayers to submit their 2024 tax returns began on Monday, July 15, 2024.
And the deadline runs until Monday 21 October 2024. Provisional taxpayers have a slightly longer window into the beginning of 2025. However, the vast majority of South Africans will be submitting a 2024 tax return in the coming weeks, if they haven’t done so already.
Nevertheless, some taxpayers are uncertain whether they should file a 2024 tax return if they earn less than a certain amount of money. Specifically, the figure of R500 000 annually, or R41 666 per month, keeps coming up. However, the specialists at TaxTim believe you should absolutely 100% submit a return no matter how much you earn annually. And there’s a very simple reason why …
2024 TAX RETURN
As The South African reported recently, SARS is boasting about its efficient new payment system. The aforementioned has seen more than R10 billion paid to 1.6-million taxpayers through its SARS auto-assessment programme in mere days from tax season opening. Even if there was a slight glitch that saw 30 000 refunds reversed all of a sudden, which SARS would rather we glossed over.
Nevertheless, the short answer to the question if you should bother submitting a 2024 tax return even if you earn less than R500k, is an emphatic YES. Put simply, if you don’t file a tax return, you will receive zero tax refund. This indirectly means you’re letting government keep all your money.
WHY DO PEOPLE GET REFUNDS?
A tax refund is paid out to a taxpayer who has overpaid on their taxes throughout the year. It is your money, it’s not a bonus or 13th cheque, it belongs to you and it belonged to you all along. Plus, filing your tax return every year, no matter your income, ensures you have an up-to-date Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC). You won’t be eligible for a TCC if all your returns are not up to date and that might stop you from getting a bank loan in the future.
Likewise, it’s not impossible for SARS to penalise you if it finds uncompleted tax returns at some point in the future. Plus, if you have a retirement annuity and file a tax return, you’re virtually guaranteed a payout of some sort from the tax-free fund. You can make use of the brilliant TaxTim refund calculator HERE, if you’re uncertain about your current tax affairs.