Boston informs businesses about skills levy

Local business owners and managers recently enjoyed a delightful networking evening at a local restaurant courtesy of Boston City Campus & Business College Polokwane.
Branch Manager Melaney Beneke welcomed guests and shared Boston’s passion for education. Boston Polokwane offers over 100 courses that cover a broad spectrum of fields within the business sector.
They are registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training as a private higher education institution and are accredited, amongst others, by the Financial Management Institute of Southern Africa and the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers.
The college is also registered as a tuition support licensee of Unisa, accredited by several Skills Education Training Authorities (Setas) and is a member of the Microsoft IT Academy Programme.
She explained why Boston courses are ideal for students who have work obligations as courses are designed for students to work at their own pace. They can access the course material online and student advisers are always available to lend a helping hand.
Students write exams as they go along and once a student is done with a module, he is credited and moves on to the next. The flexibility of this study method helps to prevent drop-outs and makes it possible for students to plan their tertiary studies around their full-time employment.
There are also no hidden fees. “Your quoted fees include your study material, registration and exam fees. We also do not charge any application fees,” Beneke said.
She introduced Petrus Maruma, an Educator at the South African Revenue Service (Sars) who explained how companies could benefit from the skills levy that they pay to Sars and how to access these benefits.
Where an employer expects that the total salaries will be more than R500 000 over the next 12 months, that employer becomes liable to pay a Skills Development Levy (SDL) to Sars and companies need to tap into the funds raised from this levy to help increase special skills in South Africa.
The money is distributed to the 33 Setas in South Africa and students can obtain grants and bursaries for tertiary studies, funded by this levy. Companies who want to send their workers on these training courses can register with Sars and follow the steps as set out on the Sars website at www.sars.gov.za/TaxTypes/SDL.
After the lecture guests enjoyed an evening of networking with the opportunity to talk to Sars employees present about the SDL and how to make it work for them.

Story and photo: MARKI FRANKEN
>>marki.observer@gmail.com

Featured photo: Boston City Campus & Business College Polo­kwane and Sars personnel welcome guests to their recent networking evening. In front are Melany Beneke, Boston City Campus & Business College Polo­kwane Branch Manager and Petrus Maruma, Sars Educator. At the back are Frank Teffo, Boston City Campus & Business College Polokwane Senior IT Training Advisor, and Molatelo Leshaba, Sales Consultant.