2010 - what lies ahead? -

2010, it’s finally here…

In just over 1 months time it is the end of the 2010 tax year and there are 2 important deadlines that go with this. They are:

Retirement annuities:

RA contributions need to be made before the end of Feb. This year the 28th is on a Sunday so all contributions will have to be done by the close of business on the 26th Feb in order to qualify for the 2010 tax year. But dont leave it to the last minute – get your contribution in way before that – leaving it to the last minute always creates additional and unnecessary stress.
If you are unsure about how much you can contribute, speak to your financial planner and most important of all, make sure you are using a unit trust RA. You can get into many of them at no initial fees and you are also not contractually bound in any way (this means you can make changes to the contributions without ever incurring a penalty).

Provisional tax:

This needs to be in by the 26th Feb as well…and this year SARS are applying “new” rules with respect to how the tax liabiity is calculated. Previously you could make a payment in Feb and top this up by the end of Sept…this year, however, you need to have paid 90% of your total tax liability by the end of Feb (you can still top up in Sept). Failure to pay 90% will result in heavy penalties…
If you need to pay provisional tax, make sure it is in on time and even if you have a nil return, make sure that you submit the form as well.

Gregg