Every now and then the South African Revenue Services engages communities to improve their awareness of the importance of honouring their tax obligations.
In Alex they have partnered with ENSafrica, a legal firm which provides pro bono services and a platform for others like Sars to engage communities through workshops on various important issues like tax.
Sars’ latest session at Sankopano Community Centre informed residents on a range of tax issues, including the eligibility criteria for paying tax, enterprises which are liable to pay tax such as sole proprietorships, trusts, private companies and partnerships, and the threshold which compels citizens and businesses to pay the different tax components – income, pay as you earn and value added tax.
Sandile Letseli from Sars said their workshops were an ongoing campaign to create an understanding of the importance and the value of tax to the country’s development programme.
“The workshops help to refresh their knowledge of this important role and are to also simplify the processes and procedures they have to follow when registering and submitting their returns,” she said.
Letseli added that because of the workshops, every year saw an improvement in compliance, especially from small businesses which knew how to compile and submit returns through the simplified and user friendly procedures.
“The simplification and education of communities on tax services has reduced significantly the aversion people had of taxation not so long ago,” she concluded.
