Global Daily Tax News, South Africa Launches Trusts Tax Season, (Sep 19, 2024)

On September 16, 2024, the South African Revenue Service launched the filing season for returns from trusts, for both provisional and non-provisional taxpayers.

The deadline for filing is January 20, 2025.

Announcing the start of the tax season, SARS noted the following changes to tax policies affecting trusts or changes to filing requirements:

• South Africa has enhanced the current renewable energy tax incentive in section 12B of the Income Tax Act by offering an enhanced deduction for certain machinery, plant, implements, utensils, and articles used in renewable energy production;

• The Urban Development Zone (UDZ) tax incentive's sunset date has been extended by two years, from March 31, 2023, to March 31, 2025;

• In respect of loans, advances, or credit granted to Trusts by connected persons, the exclusion for acquiring a primary residence has been clarified, including funding for improvements to a residence. The limitations regarding the land on which the primary residence is located now also apply;

• A new question has been added to the form wizard requiring confirmation that the person appointed as a trustee has not been disqualified;

• The donations questions have been updated to allow the taxpayer to enter up to 20 approved organizations that the Trust donates to;

• A new feature has been introduced to manage requests for reduced assessments for companies under section 93 of the Tax Administration Act (TAA). Taxpayers must complete the Request for Reduced Assessment (RRA02) form, which will generate a case to determine whether the taxpayer qualifies for a reduced assessment; and

• Clarifications have been added to the Beneficial Ownership section to assist in completing information for unnamed beneficiaries.

SARS also released an example of the updated Trusts form.