Your Tax Deadlines for May 2025
- 07 May – PAYE submissions and payments
- 23 May – VAT manual submissions and payments
- 29 May – Excise duty payments
- 30 May – VAT electronic submissions and payments, & CIT Provisional Tax payments where applicable.
Mind The Tax Gap! Here’s How…
“In 2025/26, SARS will focus on addressing the tax gap to improve revenue collection.” (National Treasury Budget Review)
With additional funding from National Treasury, SARS will now be better positioned than ever to collect the estimated R800 billion in unpaid taxes which SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter has identified as a better alternative than a VAT hike to balance the South African Budget.
Much of the estimated R800 billion in unpaid taxes consists of the so-called “tax gap” – the difference between how much tax is legally due to SARS and the amount that is actually paid on time. SARS has reported the following:
- Just over R400 billion in undisputed uncollected debt
- Over R100 billion in debt currently under dispute
- More than 54 million outstanding returns dating back several years
- 156,000 South Africans with substantial economic activity who are not registered taxpayers, or are not filing their tax returns.
The remainder of the R800 billion unpaid taxes is made up by “aggressive tax planning” such as base erosion, transfer pricing, and other means of tax evasion, as well as unpaid excise duties, unpaid VAT, and illicit trade flows.
Kieswetter said R2 billion of the additional R2.5 billion that SARS will receive for 2025/26 will be used for “a massive debt recovery programme”, while R500 million will be used to modernise SARS’ systems.
Given SARS’ enhanced capabilities and focus on collecting outstanding debt, our tax expertise will be crucial in ensuring you and your business maintain complete compliance and react immediately and correctly should your tax affairs become the subject of SARS’ scrutiny.
Tax compliance tick box
Maintaining compliance starts with:
| ✔ Being registered for all applicable tax types within the stipulated time frames ✔ Making accurate declarations ✔ Filing returns and other required documentation on time ✔ Paying the correct amount of tax on time ✔ Promptly responding to SARS communications ✔ Paying penalties and interest for non-compliance, such as late submissions or under-declared income. |
How we can help you mind the tax gap
We can help you to comply with your specific tax obligations with up-to-date tax expertise and best practices.
- We promptly and professionally respond to communications from SARS, such as notices of demand for unfiled returns, requests for information, or notifications of penalties levied.
- We take immediate and correct action following demands for outstanding tax debts. Taxpayers have ten business days after receiving a Final Demand to either pay, arrange deferral of payment or make a payment arrangement, file a suspension of payment with an objection, or enter into a compromise agreement.
What’s more, our expertise and experience enable us to monitor that SARS is following the correct legal procedures. This ensures that your taxpayer rights are protected and preventing illegal collection measures such as unauthorised SARS withdrawals from bank accounts.
Bottom line
SARS says it will be relentless in its efforts to collect the billions of rands in uncollected taxes, and that it is ready to act against those who wilfully and defiantly ignore their legal tax obligations.
Similarly, we will be relentless in ensuring you maintain complete tax compliance in all your affairs. And we are ready to take the proper and timely action when SARS’ spotlight shines on your tax affairs.
This Workers’ Day, Look After Your Business’ Greatest Asset
“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” (Richard Branson)
Whether you call it May Day, Labour Day or International Workers’ Day, 1 May is an opportune time for businesses to consider and prioritise their workers.
Here’s why happy workers are a business’s greatest asset (and some ways to foster a happier workforce).
Business benefits of happy workers
- Increased productivity. Various studies have shown that happy workers are more committed to company goals and up to 13% more productive.
- Improved customer service. People who are happy at work provide better customer service, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Reduced costs. Lower absenteeism and improved worker retention mean substantially reduced labour costs.
- Enhanced creativity and innovation. Happy workers buy into the big picture, offer creative solutions, take thoughtful risks, collaborate and are more likely to experiment.
- Superior business performance. Gallup research shows that companies with happy workers can outperform competitors by up to 200%, and achieve up to 22% higher profitability.
5 ways to increase happiness in your workplace
- Create a supportive work environment
Essential for employee wellbeing is a safe and supportive work environment in which diversity is valued and everyone is included and treated respectfully. This is also the foundation for a company culture that’s centred around teamwork, collaboration, job satisfaction, and accomplishment.
- Balance job demands with resources
Providing sufficient and appropriate resources to ensure staff can meet their work demands means the work gets done efficiently and on time. It is also important that workers’ roles and responsibilities are clear and aligned with company goals, and that issues like time pressures and overwhelming workloads are addressed quickly.
- Offer competitive compensation and benefits
Be sure to offer fair compensation packages as well as benefits that add value to employees, such as flexible scheduling and work arrangements, extra paid time off or even an onsite canteen, gym, or creche. Maintain this competitiveness through annual compensation reviews.
- Recognise and appreciate all workers
It can be a really good idea to implement a formal recognition programme. After all, over 70% of employees say “feeling unappreciated” is the biggest driver of dissatisfaction. It’s equally important to make health and wellbeing a priority in your workplace and to encourage workers to share their feedback, ideas and concerns. Nobody likes to feel ignored!
- Invest in professional development
Continuously provide the necessary training and tools for employees to perform effectively. Complement this by investing in professional development, and offering workers at all levels opportunities for upskilling and career advancement.
The bottom line
There is a real return on an investment in happy workers – and many easy ways to increase the level of happiness and engagement among your workers.
