Budget 3.0: VAT Increase Out, Fuel Levy Hikes In
Last month’s Budget 3.0 withdrew the contentious proposed VAT changes. This resulted in inflation-linked fuel levy increases of 16c for petrol and 15c for diesel, from 4 June.
Last month’s Budget 3.0 withdrew the contentious proposed VAT changes. This resulted in inflation-linked fuel levy increases of 16c for petrol and 15c for diesel, from 4 June.
In the life cycle of every small business or start-up, one early trap catches many founders off guard: failing to separate personal and business finances.
Youth Day on 16 June is a great time to consider the advantages of employing young people in your business – and to find out how SARS’ Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) can assist your company to do this at a reduced cost.
As a business owner, at some stage you will inevitably be asked to help an employee through a crisis in either their personal or professional life. How you respond to their bereavement, financial difficulties or workplace meltdown, will directly affect your other employees and your company culture.
There’s a thin line between tax avoidance, which is legal, and tax evasion, which is a tax crime. Every taxpayer, corporate or individual, has the right and duty to ensure they don’t pay any more tax than what is legally required – but tax evasion can result in hefty penalties and even jail time.
Today’s work environment is fast-paced, unpredictable and ever-changing. Between the gig economy, retrenchments and the transformations brought about by AI and other technologies, studies are now showing that the traditional 9-to-5 job is no longer viewed as being a stable way of life.
Workers’ Day acknowledges the contributions of workers and recognises the importance of upholding their rights. But celebrating workers is not just a government initiative. It’s a forward-thinking approach to labour relations that is increasingly embraced by progressive companies around the world.
Running a business requires leaders to make hundreds of decisions each year. Some of these are small and inconsequential. But others have the power to affect the company’s future, determine the happiness of its customers and impact the lives of all its employees.
Increased funding allocated in Budget 2025 will enable SARS to zoom in on an estimated R800 billion in unpaid taxes in South Africa, including a substantial so-called “tax gap” of uncollected taxes. For taxpayers, this means more scrutiny, enquiries, verifications, and audits – and more stringent debt collection measures.
In the history of business, little has been as effective in making or breaking sales as customer reviews. With Google now placing increasing relevance on tracking and promoting companies with genuine good reviews, this has never been truer than it is now.
“Protect Yourself – Use Only Registered Tax Practitioners” was among the first messages from SARS this year. The message also highlighted the risks of engaging the services of unregistered practitioners and provided an online look-up feature where a practitioner’s registration can be verified.
As a business owner or financial manager one of the most important decisions you will make is whether to buy or lease the equipment your business needs to operate.
Online meeting apps have absolutely boomed over the past few years. But in a post-COVID world, business travel is still an expensive necessity for many companies.
If you don’t agree with an assessment from SARS, swift action and careful management of the dispute process will maximise your chances of a favourable outcome.
The biggest benefit of small businesses is their adaptability. It’s much easier for a small business to pivot and change course when things are going wrong.
A new year is often a time to rethink your strategy. One option you may not yet have considered is going into partnership with a charity or non-profit organisation.
A balance sheet is a vital financial report for a business, providing a snapshot of the company’s financial health by detailing its assets, liabilities and owners’ equity. These are also used to calculate important financial ratios.
Building a small business on your own can be hard. It’s difficult to know just where each hour of work and precious cent should go to maximise growth. Product testing, marketing, website costs and infrastructure – these are not cheap and may be hard to put together all at once when starting out. This is why many turn to external investors for help.
The second provisional tax deadline for the 2025 tax year is just days away (28 February 2025). It’s the trickiest and most important provisional tax deadline of the tax year, because the income estimates on which it’s based must be highly accurate. Estimates that don’t fall within 80 – 90% of your actual taxable income can expose taxpayers to a stiff 20% under-estimation penalty.
In June 2019, Slack co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield declared that business email would be dead and buried within seven years. Now, six years later, email remains as strong as ever – despite the weaknesses Butterfield saw still being there.
Starting a new business isn’t just a challenging undertaking. It also comes with a list of tax liabilities and administrative obligations. Not to mention an impact on the business owner’s personal tax affairs.
In a world where market conditions and consumer preferences are constantly shifting, many business advisors tell leaders to be agile and adaptable if they want their businesses to succeed. While this can be effective, it’s even better for your business to already be positioned to take advantage of any changes that may occur.
An effective year-end business review can be a powerful tool for any firm. It identifies effective business processes and highlights areas for improvement, making it easier to formulate a solid plan for the upcoming year.