January may begin with resolutions for the year ahead – but March begins with Tax Resolutions for the next tax year. We promise ourselves to be a little more organised, a little more prudent and try to minimise our contributions the next time around.

BusinessTech recently said that with the many challenges small business owners face every day, being tax compliant is often not at the top of the list and tax deadlines often come and go in the struggle of trying to keep the business afloat.

The single, sole proprietor often goes it alone, not realising that business tax returns are far more complicated than individual returns.

Research conducted by TaxTim shows that 58% of small businesses do not get professional help when submitting their annual tax returns. In fact, only 13% handed the role over to an outsourced professional.

Marc Sevitz, co-founder and CFO of the online tax return tool TaxTim, says that SMEs do not have one standard deadline for submission to SARS. SMEs must complete their annual tax returns within 12 months of the end of their financial year, which can be any time from January to December.

If this is ringing a familiar bell with you, then here are some top tax tips!

Use the correct rates for depreciation

If your business owns assets that devalue over time, be sure to use the correct wear and tear rate from SARS’ list of different asset types. For example, computers depreciate at a different rate to vehicles. Also, check whether your business qualifies for the Small Business Corporation or Section 12C Manufacturing Assets special wear and tear allowance.

Know all the allowed deductions

There are numerous deductions and allowances available to SMEs. It is in your best interest to familiarise yourself with them to ensure you never pay more tax for your business than necessary. For example, a business can claim an allowance for a building that it owns, or special tax deductions for leased assets.

Provide properly for provisions

Remember that accounting provisions are treated differently for tax purposes. Ensure you reverse the Provision for Leave Pay and Provision for Employee Bonuses in your business’s tax calculation as these are only deductible for tax once they’ve been paid.

Record every cent earned or spent

Whilst it may sound like an administrative headache, keeping an accurate and up-to-date record of your business’s income and expenses, allocated to their various categories, is critical to ensuring a smooth tax return. The nature and size of your business will determine whether you’d want to look at investing in an accounting software or package, or if a basic spreadsheet record will suffice.

Keep all your slips

Keep all documents relating to income and expenses, such as invoices and receipts, and file them in a logical order. Should SARS request verification on your business’s tax return, you’ll easily be able to supply these. Scrambling around to find slips from the past year can easily be avoided.

Make copies of documents

It’s best to keep both a hard copy and electronic version of documents. Scanned copies can be stored online using cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox, which ensures they’re safe, even if the originals get lost or if your computer is damaged or stolen.

Store documents for five years

Don’t toss away your documents once you’ve filed your business tax return. Legislation requires that SMEs keep all relevant documents for a minimum of five years. SARS may request a review of previous tax returns and you don’t want to be missing vital documents that impact your business’s tax liability.

Small businesses play a crucial role in the strength of our economy and the future of our country. Let’s keep supporting SMEs where ever we can!

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The Budget for 2017 has been presented to parliament and is awaiting final approval, but if all goes through as planned, here are some key issues that may affect your financial planning for the year – as well as your investment portfolio.

Significant announcements

• New 45% tax rate for those earning more than R1.5 million per annum. (Around 100 000 taxpayers are affected)
• Dividend withholding tax increased from 15% to 20% (this will have an impact on your investments)
• No increases in VAT or Capital Gains Tax (great news on no change to CGT)

Tax changes

• Government will raise an additional R28 billion during the new tax year
• New 45% marginal tax rate for those earning more than R1.5 million per annum
• Other taxpayers will not receive full relief from fiscal drag – the impact of inflation on tax brackets
• Tax on dividends increase from 15% to 20%. (Tim let me show you how to get this down from 20% to ZERO)
• Taxes on fuel to rise by 39c a litre. (Fuel levy +30c and RAF levy +9c)
• Total fuel levy on petrol will amount to 36% of pump price
• Total fuel levy on diesel will amount 40.2% of pump price
• Properties sold for less than R900 000 will not pay transfer duties (2016: from R750 000)
• Sugar tax: Will be implemented once parliament passes legislation
• Carbon tax: Revised legislation will be published mid-2017 for public consultation

Sin taxes

• Duties on malt beer rises by 9% or 12c to R1,47 per 340ml can
• Duty on unfortified wine rises by 8,8% or 30c to R3,61 per liter
• Duty on fortified wine rises by 6,1% or 35c to R6,17 per liter
• Duty on sparkling wine rises by 8,8% or 93c to R11,46 per liter
• Duties on ciders and alcoholic fruit beverages rise by 9% or 12c to R1,47 per 340ml can
• Duty on spirits rises by 8.5% or R4,43 to R56,50 per 750ml bottle
• Duty on cigarettes rise by 8% or R1,06 to R14,30 a packet of 20s
• Duty on cigars rise by 9,5% or R6,58 to R75,86 per 23g

These are some significant announcements but are simply a snapshot of the whole presentation. If you want more information, visit The National Treasury website here.

Some people are amazingly good at bringing order to chaos and organizing their lives in such a way that makes the rest of us simply stand and gawk, thinking ‘How do they do it?’.

Finding just the right amount of order in your life will not only help you minimise waste – but it will also help you reduce stress!

When you can find what you’re looking for, quickly and easily, you will have more time to be creative and work on projects that will help you grow, but you also won’t need to go out and ‘buy another one’…

There are so many great ideas on the web – but here are some of them from 100+ Ideas:

USE ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING

Think about it: do some clicking in the comfort of your own home at night; select your delivery option – and it’s done. The groceries magically appear – you (and your family) don’t even have to get into your car.

Most of the local online grocery options also enable you to order previously purchased products, keeping a list of your popular items – making it quicker and easier to top up your fridge and pantry each time you log on to your account.

USE HANGING SHOE HOLDERS

Whether it’s behind the bathroom door for extra toiletries and medicines, hanging inside the broom closet with your detergents or in the garage with tools, paints, chemicals and odds and ends – these simple, ridiculously cheap, organizers can be hidden away and hung almost anywhere discreet and give you considerably more shelf space – and allow you to see the full scope of what you have.

You’ll never buy too much jik, or lose your spare razor blades again!

USE A TASK SCHEDULER THAT IS DIFFERENT TO YOUR EMAILS

This is a goodie for your work ethic!

When you’re trying to be super productive at work, nothing is more disruptive than an email coming through that is asking you to ‘quickly’ do something. It breaks your creative work flow, slows you down and increases your stress levels.

Many of us allow our emails, texts or phones to govern our task scheduling. We start off the day with one project in mind – and then if a message comes through, instead of prioritising and scheduling it for later, we deal with it now because we know that if we close that message… we might forget.

Having a task programme that is separate to your emails, allows you to transfer requests, schedule them and stick to the job at hand. And you won’t miss a beat.

In an article recently published on Moneyweb Today (by Paul Leonard, CFP, Regional Head, Citadel), several points were made that succinctly provided useful insight for those considering the options about investing in a TFSA, and deciding whether or not it would be the most appropriate savings vehicle.

Before making any final decisions, it’s always best for us to meet and assess your investment plan based on your financial needs analysis – but these pointers should help you understand the nature of this product and how it would work inside of your financial plan.

The use of tax free savings and investment accounts is generally most appropriate in the following circumstances:

1. Achieving long-term investment goals
2. Saving for retirement when your income is below the income tax threshold, and you’ll consequently not enjoy any personal income tax relief contributions made to retirement funds
3. Topping up retirement savings over and above the maximum amount per annum (namely R 350k) that one can receive tax breaks on. Given that most South Africans are under-funded for retirement, there is a need for most working people to play catch up and contribute more than the deductible limits in retirement funds. It is generally recommended that investors make use of all the tax breaks available for retirement funding investments before using TFSA. This is in line with the government’s objective to ‘complement initiatives and incentives to promote retirement savings”
4. Savings for retirement when you are uncertain about your long term income or job security and therefore may need to access the capital should you become unemployed
5. Saving for retirement if you are uncertain as to where or not you will emigrate, in which case you may want to realise the investment to expatriate your capital should you leave

In short – when you have a large amount of money that you can nest away for an extended investment period, a TFSA should most certainly be one of the options that you consider.

The best gifts are the one’s that show deep consideration for the recipient. That means that Valentine’s Day is not just about flowers, chocolate, biltong and a cute travel mug… it’s about knowing your partner and buying them something that they would truly love!

So here are some pointers for this Valentine’s day for expressing your appreciation!

EXPERIENCE OVER EXPENSE

The best gifts are memories, not expensive trinkets. If you plan it right, your entire Valentine’s treat could revolve around a unique, personal and breath-taking experience! You could plan to have the element of spontaneity, showing attention and forethought whilst keeping it romantic and exciting.

If you go this route – maybe you’d like to arrange an instant film camera where you can take polaroid-type photos that capture and print the moment without needing your phone or digital camera to distract you. Instax offers a great, novel option for this – you could buy one as part of the experience, or borrow one from a friend and simply purchase a 10-pack of film for the date.

LESS OVER MORE
Try not to go over the top – remember this is Valentine’s day, not a 50th birthday party. Whilst you might want to simply shower your partner with lavish gifts, when you buy too much, the gifts overshadow the sentiment… and Valentine’s Day is all about the sentiment!

PERSONAL OVER PRICEY
When a gift has personal meaning, it becomes a gift without a price tag. When your partner opens the gift – gets the reference and looks at you with that priceless look of ‘You remembered!’… don’t tell them how much it cost or what a good deal you got!

However you are planning to celebrate this Valentine’s day, have fun!

Every year we see an internal migration of individuals and families between the major cities of South Africa – mostly for work reasons. These decisions are sometimes thrust upon us due to simple economics, but other times we are able to explore the opportunities and the pros-and-cons of living in a new city.

But how exactly can you make informed decisions without relying mostly on hearsay or the perceptions of friends and colleagues.

Which cities are on the higher scales of cost of living (relative to income) and which are lower down?

It may be safe to speculate that many people would rate Cape Town or Johannesburg as the most expensive place to live in South Africa, and they wouldn’t be far wrong – but according to the latest surveys by Expatistan.com, Benoni has the highest cost of living, with Cape Town ranking 4th! (at the time of publishing this post)

Check this link out for the full details:
https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/country/south-africa

Once you’ve clicked through to the each city, you can view a comprehensive presentation of living expenses ranging from a lunchtime meal in the business district, through to data costs and the hourly rate for cleaning services. Being able to consider the rental of small housing units, utilities and transportation costs are extremely helpful – even the cost of a TV and microwave are there!

You can also find comparative costings for basic goods like milk, eggs and chicken as well as clothing options and personal care products.

Remember, these expenses need to be weighed against your earning potential whilst living there – so every presentation should be in context of your unique situation. If you need advice or guidance, then send me a text or email and let’s make a plan to go through your options, together!

By making the most of your income and implementing some savvy financial thinking even an ordinary salary earner can grow an impressive portfolio of assets. Investment success is primarily due to behaviour – not luck. As you will probably know, one of the mature investment perspectives reminds us that it’s not so much about timing the markets as much as it’s about time in the markets.

Let’s look at some of the behavioural traits of a shrewd investor:

They don’t worry about keeping up appearances
Wealth is what is left after you have expended your income. There is no point in seeing yourself as a smart investor if you don’t leave yourself anything to invest with at the end of every month. If you worry what people will think about the car you drive or the house you live in perhaps you need to rethink your priorities.

They clearly define their investment objectives
Investment is not a one-trick pony; investments need to be sorted according to objective and managed accordingly. We all have different goals with different time horizons, but smart investors know that different timelines mean different asset allocations and tax implications.

They know the difference between a trend and a classic
We are all driven by either fear or greed to some proportion. If you are chasing better returns on a hot tip or folding out of fearsome unknowns, and find yourself making numerous fund switches in the year, you may need to take a step back and decide which of these factors are driving your investment decisions.

Is your portfolio diverse enough to ward off your fears and focused enough to reach your investment objectives on time? If not, let’s take a look and get you on the right track.

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