You with Cape Talk This Africa Milani on Early Breakfast. Tax season opens up in about six days. The Revenue Service has added an option on the E filing platform ahead of that tax season. It's called Express Functionality, which will be available to you and I and apparently it's going to make it easier for you to view, to update and to manage your tax affairs. Joenning. On the line is Stephen Devett, chairperson of the Financial Planning Institute's
Tax Competency Committee. Steven A, very good morning and welcome to.
The show, Morning Africa. Thank you.
Is this going to help this express Functionality that SARS is designing into the E filing platform.
I suppose we should say yes. It's not earth shatteringly new. Third party information that's been updated into e filing has
been happening since around twenty twenty one. But what they have done is they've added functionality now that makes the data that has been provided available to us in advance, which we've never previously been able to see, and we now have the ability to add other forms that have perhaps not been uploaded, which should have been so when the banks or the insurance companies or the medical aid funds,
upload certificates in advance. You can now go in and if there's a bank certificate missing that you can identify, you can now add that. However, that's always been able. We've always been able to add that within the tax returns when we open our tax returns after the seventh of July. And that's why I say it's not worth shatteringly new, but yes, it can help. And I think the fact that it's more transparent now that it's there, that's a great idea. So does it simplify the process?
I don't think that makes it any simpler than what it's always been. You know, whether you've added it into your tax return later or now do it in advance. It's six of one and a half a dozen of the other. But I do think what Size is aiming at is to say, well, if you've if we've got all the data now, it will speed up the auto assessment process.
And for me, I imagine that's the greatest benefit. Right instead of toing and throwing as you are updating, making amendments and changes, you now, as you say, do it ahead of time so that when the Revenue services and assesses your tax affairs they're able to go cool, you owe us or we owe you, and then hopefully settle the matter with some speedy fashion.
Yes, so that you're quite right. So it does allow for that obviously for people with very simple returns, that then becomes a quick and easy process. For people with more complex tax situations where they then have deductions and expenses to claim against that that still has to be
filed and you go through the normal process. But even for people with complex tax situations, and it's typically them that we have certificates missing, you know, they won't all be the and then you can add them up front, and then when the filing season opens, you add your expenditures with all the supporting documents, and then you can go ahead. And I think that for me, you know, I have this opinion that nobody should just accept the auto assessment when they come up and they say you've
been auto assessed? Do you want to accept it? And you quickly take yes. I believe that even people with simple tax returns should in fact open that tax return, double check everything that's in there, and also use the tax calculator option that's provided within your return, and do a provisional calculation for yourself, and you get a provisional assessment, and then you double check that and then you save
and file your return. Too many people think, oh, I'm getting five hundred grand back, let me accept it and let's move on. I think you know, double check it pays. It's always a good idea. It makes you a better tax player when you start looking at that sort of stuff, even though you've looked at all of this in advance.
So what put of information should we be looking for, steven, and make sure that is included in our assessment.
I always double check that all the incomes that I've got are number one there and that they have been properly and correctly processed, and not that numbers have been changed or whatever, because it can happen. And similarly with the expenses that I'm needing to claim, and I re look at it and I say, well, have I got all the expenses that I'm allowed and entitled to claim? Are they in my return? Have I captured them and processed them properly? And then I can accept my assessment
and my return and I submit and file it. So that's really what it's broad based. It's incomes and expenses.
Make sure that everything's there, make sure that the numbers are correct, and by doing that provisional assessment and using that tax calculator, you can actually see whether you've captured it into the correct fields, because that creates a problem if you're putting numbers into a different fiel where Size is not expecting it, they reject it and kick it out and tell you that you've disclosed your information incorrectly.
So those are the things that I would check. And then of course that leads you to this promise of a seventy two hour refund, which is a great idea. I'm personally not holding my breath based on the experience that we've had over the last fifteen to twenty years. But to Sis's credit, if they are now beginning to let me use the word inter commas, behave better because they've been putting taxpayers under immense pressure to be more and more compliant and they believe that we should be better.
If Size is now going to be doing the same, then that's great. You know, I'm looking forward to seeing that happen, because taxpayers have become slightly miserable about the way Size has been behaving and been putting us under great pressure so let's see saras can turn themselves around and actually do this. They've not met their promises of refund times in all cases in the past, but if I do it now, this would be a wonderful news and would be a great thing to see.
Let's hope. We should note that if you are auto assessed, you will receive a notification from the seventh until the twentieth of July, and then tax players who did not receive that notification during that period you encouraged to submit your tax returns with accurate information from the twenty first of July, and the tax season will close on the twentieth of October. Stephen, thank you very much indeed for your time this morning. Stephen Devett is a chairperson of
the Financial Planning Institute's Tax Competency Committee. All of this comes into effect on the seventh of July. We did reach out to the Revenue Services to request an interview on this. There are stress testing the system and offered us an interview after the seventh and we'll try and allocate as much time as possible so that you can get to ask your questions of the tax official.