The SARS Commissioner published Government Gazette 44571 on 14 My 2021, prescribing who are required to file an income tax return before certain deadlines for year of assessment 2021 (1 March 2020 – 28 February 2021). 

Natural Persons are not required to submit an income tax return if all of the below conditions are met for the 2021 year of assessment:

• if the gross income of that natural person consisted solely of gross income described below:
  • remuneration from one single source (employer) which does not exceed R500 000 for the tax year and employees’ tax has been withheld in terms of the deduction tables prescribed by the Commissioner,
  • interest (other than interest from a tax free investment) from a source in the Republic which does not exceed-
    • R23 800 in the case of a natural person below the age of 65 years,
    • R34 500 in the case of a natural person aged 65 years or older, or
    • R23 800 in the case of the estate of a deceased person.
• dividends received/accrued by a natural person which was a non-resident throughout the 2021 year of assessment, and
• amounts received/accrued from a tax free investment
• was not paid/granted a subsistence allowance as contemplated in section 8(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act,
• was not paid/granted a travel allowance/reimbursive travel allowance, unless the amount does not exceed the amount by multiplying the actual business kilometres travelled by the prescribed rate per kilometre (R3.98 for 2020/2021),
• was not granted a ‘right of use of motor vehicle’ benefit as contemplated in the Seventh Schedule to the Income Tax Act,
• did not receive foreign employment income (remuneration received/accrued for services rendered outside SA),
• does not want to claim any income deductions or tax credits on assessment,
• is notified by the Commissioner in writing that he/she is eligible for automatic assessment and the person’s gross income, exemptions, deductions and rebates reflected in the records of the Commissioner are complete and correct as at the date of accepting the automatic assessment or does not respond to the automatic assessment before the submission deadline.

Natural persons are required to submit an income tax return if one of the below conditions are met for the 2021 year of assessment (subject to the above conditions):

• was a resident and carried on any trade (other than solely in his/her capacity as an employee)
• was a non-resident and carried on any trade (other than solely in his/her capacity as an employee) in the Republic,
• was a resident and had capital gains or capital losses exceeding R40 000,
• was a non-resident and had capital gains or capital losses from the disposal of an asset to which the Eight Schedule to the Income Tax Act applies,
• was a resident and held any funds in foreign currency or owned any assets outside the Republic, if the total value of those funds and assets exceeded R250 000 at any stage during the 2021 year of assessment,
• was a resident and to whom any income or capital gains from funds in foreign currency or assets outside the Republic was attributed in terms of the Income Tax Act,
• was a resident who held any participation rights as referred to in section 72A of the Income Tax Act, in a controlled foreign company,
• was a resident and had taxable turnover
• was -
  • under the age of 65 years of age and whose gross income exceeded R83 100,
  • was 65 years or older (but under the age of 75) and whose gross income exceeded R128 650,
  • was 75 years or older and whose gross income exceeded R143 850,
• every estate of a deceased person that had gross income
• a natural person who was a non-resident whose gross income included interest from a source in the Republic to which the provisions of section 10(1)(h) of the Income Tax Act do not apply, or
• every natural person that is issued an income tax return form or who is requested by the Commissioner in writing to furnish a return, irrespective of the amount of income or nature of receipts or accrual.

Natural person’s income tax filing season deadlines:

• on or before 23 November 2021 if the return is submitted electronically through the assistance of a SARS official at an office of SARS or manually,
• on or before 23 November 2021 if the return does not relate to a provisional taxpayer and is submitted by using the SARS eFiling platform, or
• on or before 31 January 2022 if the return relates to a provisional taxpayer and is submitted by using the SARS eFiling platform.

Please note that the starting date of filing season is not yet available. This will be communicated once available.