Five Things Every Taxpayer Should Know

The third draft of the long awaited Tax Administration Bill ("TAB") was recently published for a final round of public comment. The TAB is an initiative to incorporate certain generic administrative provisions, which are currently duplicated in the different tax acts, into one piece of legislation. Since the TAB is now nearing the final stages of the legislative process, every taxpayer requires a basic knowledge of its implications.

1. know your new identity
   
   The TAB provides for a single registration system whereby taxpayers will register for all tax types by means of a single registration form. For example, an enterprise will no longer have to register separately for income tax and value-added tax. The South African Revenue Services ("SARS") may, however, allocate various reference numbers to one taxpayer to differentiate between various tax matters. Should the taxpayer correspond with SARS without mentioning the allocated reference number, SARS may disregard such