‘Catch-all’ regulations for tax advisers suggested by SARS

Tax practitioners had raised concern on the lack of distinction in the Bill, depending on whether they are in the accounting, legal or other professions, said Franz Tomasek, GM of Legislative Policy at SARS, according to a Business Day report. SARS concedes that there are distinguishing features among the professions, particularly when it comes to litigation, yet raises the question as to whether it is not appropriate to regulate all tax advisers that provide tax advice regularly. ‘After all, the function that they perform is the same,’ he said. Comments on the draft Bill had to be submitted to SARS by April 5. More than 30 comments had been received from a range of stakeholders, including academics, professional bodies and practitioners. Full Business Day report Draft Regulation of Tax Practitioners Bill

Still on tax matters: New regulations prescribing the circumstances in which SARS may waive additional taxes, penalties and interest for businesses that qualify for the small business tax amnesty, were gazetted on Friday, notes Business Day. SARS said it wanted to make small businesses aware of developments in the tax amnesty and that it would help entities that had not been eligible for amnesty or that had expressed technical concern about the effect of the amnesty. The waiver applied only to additional tax, interest and penalties outstanding on December 31 last year. It excluded the capital amount outstanding to SARS, such as outstanding income tax and value-added tax. Full Business Day report