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12/10/2020

New rule will have serious consequences for South African taxpayers
Staff Writer9 October 2020

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Tax and financial experts have raised concerns around one of the proposed amendments in the Draft Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill (Draft TALAB) that could have serious consequences for South African taxpayers.

The issue revolves around the removal of the element of ‘wilful conduct’ in respect of tax-related offences.

Under current tax regulations, a person must commit an unlawful act ‘wilfully and without just cause’ before the taxpayer could be found guilty of the offence.

The Draft TALAB proposes to amend the wording of these three provisions by removing the term ‘wilfully‘ from the legislation, thereby removing the obligation on SARS to prove intent before a taxpayer can be found guilty of one of these offences,

In a presentation on the bill to parliament this week, professional services firm PwC said that the effect of these proposed amendments will be to criminalize negligent conduct – including
genuine errors.

“In this regard, the Memorandum of Objects to the DTALAB states that negligent conduct should be criminally punishable and that the requirement of intent should be removed so that taxpayers can be held to the objective standard of reasonableness contained in the test for negligence,” it said.

“The effect of the amendment will be to punish negligent conduct as harshly as intentional conduct is currently punished, notwithstanding the requirement of proportionality that requires that the severity of the sanction should match the degree of culpability as closely as possible.”

PwC said that the proposed amendment will broaden the scope of criminal offences, making a greater range of conduct – and a greater number of taxpayers – subject to criminal sanctions.

Broadening the scope of offences is likely to result in a larger number of investigations and prosecutions, this may however not result in greater efficiency or higher success rates in prosecuting tax offences, it said.

“The (bill’s) memorandum of objects indicates that it is not possible for a person to wilfully fail to do something. This is factually incorrect.

“For example, it is quite possible for a person to deliberately fail to comply with a tax obligation, such as the submission of a tax return or the payment of tax.”

PwC acknowledged that, in the context of tax law, it would in certain circumstances be appropriate to treat negligent non-compliance as a criminal offence.

For example, it may be appropriate that the negligent non-submission of a return or non-payment of tax be criminalised, it said.

“However, it is unconscionable that less serious offences – such as failure to notify SARS of a change of address or to appoint a public officer – should be criminal offences purely on the basis of negligence.”

Read: This graph shows huge price hikes for municipal water, lights and other taxes
https://businesstech.co.za/news/finance/439449/new-rule-will-have-serious-consequences-for-south-african-taxpayers/

12/10/2020

Final demand’ warning from SARS to some taxpayers – what you should know
Staff Writer9 October 2020

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If you have received a call or SMS from South African Revenue Service (SARS), alleging you have an outstanding tax debt, in all likelihood, this is not fraud, but the revenue collector reminding you before things get out of hand and more aggressive collection measures become necessary, says Jashwin Baijoo, tax attorney at Tax Consulting SA.

“In recent times we have seen a drastic spike in the number of taxpayers who are receiving these gentle reminders, and ignoring them until a formal final demand is received from SARS and the collection process commences,” said Baijoo.

What many taxpayers do not realise is that the longer you wait, or play ignorant, the greater your tax debt becomes, until it spirals out of control, with interest upon interest and administrative penalties, to the point where you cannot afford to pay it off, even if you want to, said Baijoo.

“Some taxpayers are of the opinion that if correspondence is received from SARS, but is not a final demand, they may ignore it and the tax debt will go away.

“Unfortunately, we have seen instances where taxpayers have received such correspondence and then not heard from SARS for years, until suddenly a final demand is received and the tax debt is now double, if not triple what it originally was.”

In the last year or so, more specifically in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic, Baijoo said his firm has seen a significant increase in SARS using banks to collect alleged tax debts, in an attempt to recover funds, filling the deficit in the fiscus.

“In order to protect yourself from SARS, it remains the best strategy that you always ensure compliance,” he said.

“Where you find yourself on the wrong side of SARS, there is a first-mover advantage in requesting a suspension of payment, protecting your bank balance whilst the matter is resolved. However, where things do go wrong, SARS must be engaged legally, and we generally find them utmostly agreeable where a correct tax strategy is followed.

As a rule of thumb, any and all correspondence received from SARS should be immediately addressed, by a qualified tax specialist or tax attorney, which will not only serve to safeguard the taxpayer against SARS implementing collection measures but also being specialists in their own right, the taxpayer will be correctly advised on the most appropriate solution to ensure their tax compliance, said Baijoo.

“On a level of solution-based thinking, the most appropriate solution is entirely dependant on the taxpayer’s mindset and compliance history.

“It may be the case where a taxpayer is simply unable to pay off the tax debt within the 10 days as per the Final Demand, due to their funds being held in a fixed deposit or notice account, and just need a bit more time.”

On the flip side, the taxpayer could very simply not be in a financial position to afford to pay off the entire tax debt and requires a reduced settlement amount, to be considered as the full and final settlement of the tax debt, said Baijoo.

“Bearing the above in mind, it must also be noted that SARS is by no means flawless, and sometimes even the all-powerful revenue authority can make a mistake with a taxpayer’s assessments, in which instance same must be brought to their attention, taking the form of a formal dispute against such assessment.”

If you have received a call or SMS from South African Revenue Service (SARS), alleging you have an outstanding tax debt, in all likelihood, this is not fraud, but the revenue collector reminding you before things get out of hand.

12/10/2020

Oct 9, 2020,08:56pm EDT
4 Ways To Practice Empathy At Work—And Why It’s Crucial To Your Career
William Arruda
William ArrudaSenior Contributor
Careers
I write about personal branding.
Working at home having a video conference with colleagues
GETTY
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the modern workplace, physically separating teams and forcing leaders to find new ways to keep employees engaged. While companies in nearly every industry are proving that work can still get done remotely, the disconnected nature of “the new normal” means that team members have less insight into the thoughts, feelings, and perspectives of their colleagues.

Strong relationships are vital to professional growth and career advancement, but they’re harder to establish and maintain when physical interactions are less common. How do you successfully climb the career ladder in this new paradigm?

The answer is empathy.

It all starts with changing your mind

Recommended For You

Trump Agrees To $1.8 Trillion Stimulus Deal In Counter-Offer To Pelosi
Urgent Call For Second Stimulus Checks And Economic Stimulus Relief
In A Post-Pandemic World, You Will Have To Become Self-Reliant To Survive And Succeed
In short, empathy is the ability to see the world from another person’s perspective. By extension, empathy helps us understand why other people speak or act in certain ways. While some people may naturally be more empathetic than others, it’s very much a skill that can be learned and developed with practice—and it must be practiced. Empathy, after all, is an extremely attractive personal brand attribute.

As KIND Founder and CEO Daniel Lubetzky says, “Empathy is one of our greatest tools of business that is most underused.” If you want to advance your career or start your own business, then you’ll absolutely need to sharpen your ability to empathize with others.

How might you do that?

Well, it’s not always easy. Developing empathy requires careful consideration of ideas, concepts, and worldviews that might be completely foreign to you—or even at odds with your own beliefs and thought processes.

However, the juice is worth the squeeze. The more you practice, the more you’ll be able to establish common ground with the people around you. This leads to stronger, more fulfilling relationships and endless opportunities for personal growth. To get started, evaluate your current beliefs and attitudes in relation to the following four subjects:

1. Yourself

Developing self-empathy requires you to evaluate your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in an objective, nonjudgmental way. It’s perhaps one of the hardest forms of empathy to develop, especially for disciplined and driven individuals who are used to holding themselves to (sometimes impossibly) high standards. While self-judgment can be a catalyst for change, it can also lead to lower self-esteem and unreasonable expectations.

One of the best ways to combat the negative effects of self-judgment is to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is often associated with meditation, but it’s really more of a mental state than an exercise. Take time each day to observe your own thoughts and feelings consciously without labeling them “good” or “bad.” Seek to understand where they come from, but don’t try to fight or change them.

Likewise, try to limit or avoid activities that lead you to compare yourself with others. Excessive social media use, for example, can cause you to compare your current circumstances with an idealized version of someone else’s life, leading to harmful self-judgment, a skewed sense of reality, and general discontent. The more you’re able to perceive your thoughts and feelings for what they truly are (temporary and often out of your control), the easier it will be to focus on things that you can control and make changes that lead to the life—and career—you want.

2. Your co-workers

Business is characterized by competition, and winning often feels like a matter of life and death. In this sort of environment, the pressure to succeed can lead to immense stress; no one is immune to it. Add the uncertainty of a global pandemic to the list of stressors already weighing on everyone, and you have a recipe for sheer existential terror.

In this context, it’s often easy to become absorbed by your own needs and desires and to forget that others are likely feeling the same way you are. In an interview for an article in Harvard Business Review, Monica Worline, a research scientist at Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education says you can avoid this trap by being as generous as possible in how you interpret your co-workers’ behaviors. If teammates fail to show up for a meeting on time or send you emails that feel rude or insulting, fight the urge to question their commitment or reprimand them for their choice of words. Perceptions are not always reality, and our negative response to someone else’s actions isn’t always a sign that they’re wrong.

Show compassion to your co-workers—even when you think they don’t deserve it—and you’ll often find that their behavior changes, sometimes instantly. Moreover, you’ll build a reputation as someone who cares about the well-being of others, which will compel colleagues to invest in your well-being and success.

3. Your boss

If you and your co-workers feel pressured or stressed, remember that your manager probably feels the same way. Leading a team can be an isolating job; managers often have to make hard decisions by themselves and face the consequences alone.

The next time your manager approaches you with a demand that seems unreasonable or an attitude that feels less than friendly, consider the pressure he or she is almost certainly feeling. While many companies offer plenty of resources for employees experiencing heavy stress or psychological trauma, those resources aren’t typically intended for leaders. If you’re in charge, you have to deal with everyone else’s problems and trying to ignore your own.

By taking time to think about your manager’s feelings, responsibilities, and challenges, you’ll improve your ability to anticipate his or her demands and actions. You’ll also gain trust, which could be extremely helpful when it’s time to ask for a raise or promotion.

When given the opportunity, whether via formal performance evaluations or casual one-on-one conversations, ask your managers about their days and any challenges that you might be able to help solve. This simple action can give you useful insight into their daily responsibilities, and it can also help you identify ways to make yourself more valuable to the business.

4. Your customers

It’s no coincidence that some of the world’s most successful companies are also viewed as the most empathetic. Companies like Google, LinkedIn, Netflix, and Unilever are able to build products and services that people love because they can anticipate and meet the needs and expectations of their customers. If you’re in a customer-facing role or leadership position, empathy can engender appreciation and loyalty—two things every company wants.

Vince Dawkins, CEO and president of Enertia Software, said in Destination CRM that being empathetic with customers can have lasting implications for your business.

“One way to connect with your customers is to show that you genuinely care about your partnership by offering leniency with invoices,” he observed. “Give customers who are struggling financially the option to pay in installments or extend deadlines, for example. By showing that you understand what your customers are going through, you will make them that much more likely to stick around now and in the future, despite economic uncertainty.”

Businesses profit by creating something valuable. During a global health crisis, empathy is in short supply. Companies that can add empathy to their existing offerings won’t be forgotten once the pandemic passes.

Developing empathy takes deliberate effort and consistent practice, of course. Few people can be empathetic all the time, and you shouldn’t berate yourself for occasionally speaking or acting out of impulse or emotion. But the more you can incorporate empathy into your professional interactions, the easier it will be to create the career you want.

William Arruda is a founder of CareerBlast and co-creator of BrandBoost - a video-based personal branding talent development experience.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.
William Arruda
William Arruda
I’m a personal branding pioneer, motivational speaker, founder of Reach Personal Branding and cofounder of CareerBlast.TV. I'm also the bestselling author of the… Read More
Print
Reprints & Permissions
Oct 9, 2020,08:56pm EDT
4 Ways To Practice Empathy At Work—And Why It’s Crucial To Your Career
William Arruda
William ArrudaSenior Contributor
Careers
I write about personal branding.
Working at home having a video conference with colleagues
GETTY
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the modern workplace, physically separating teams and forcing leaders to find new ways to keep employees engaged. While companies in nearly every industry are proving that work can still get done remotely, the disconnected nature of “the new normal” means that team members have less insight into the thoughts, feelings, and perspectives of their colleagues.

Strong relationships are vital to professional growth and career advancement, but they’re harder to establish and maintain when physical interactions are less common. How do you successfully climb the career ladder in this new paradigm?

The answer is empathy.

It all starts with changing your mind

Recommended For You

Trump Agrees To $1.8 Trillion Stimulus Deal In Counter-Offer To Pelosi
Urgent Call For Second Stimulus Checks And Economic Stimulus Relief
In A Post-Pandemic World, You Will Have To Become Self-Reliant To Survive And Succeed
In short, empathy is the ability to see the world from another person’s perspective. By extension, empathy helps us understand why other people speak or act in certain ways. While some people may naturally be more empathetic than others, it’s very much a skill that can be learned and developed with practice—and it must be practiced. Empathy, after all, is an extremely attractive personal brand attribute.

As KIND Founder and CEO Daniel Lubetzky says, “Empathy is one of our greatest tools of business that is most underused.” If you want to advance your career or start your own business, then you’ll absolutely need to sharpen your ability to empathize with others.

How might you do that?

Well, it’s not always easy. Developing empathy requires careful consideration of ideas, concepts, and worldviews that might be completely foreign to you—or even at odds with your own beliefs and thought processes.

However, the juice is worth the squeeze. The more you practice, the more you’ll be able to establish common ground with the people around you. This leads to stronger, more fulfilling relationships and endless opportunities for personal growth. To get started, evaluate your current beliefs and attitudes in relation to the following four subjects:

1. Yourself

Developing self-empathy requires you to evaluate your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in an objective, nonjudgmental way. It’s perhaps one of the hardest forms of empathy to develop, especially for disciplined and driven individuals who are used to holding themselves to (sometimes impossibly) high standards. While self-judgment can be a catalyst for change, it can also lead to lower self-esteem and unreasonable expectations.

One of the best ways to combat the negative effects of self-judgment is to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is often associated with meditation, but it’s really more of a mental state than an exercise. Take time each day to observe your own thoughts and feelings consciously without labeling them “good” or “bad.” Seek to understand where they come from, but don’t try to fight or change them.

Likewise, try to limit or avoid activities that lead you to compare yourself with others. Excessive social media use, for example, can cause you to compare your current circumstances with an idealized version of someone else’s life, leading to harmful self-judgment, a skewed sense of reality, and general discontent. The more you’re able to perceive your thoughts and feelings for what they truly are (temporary and often out of your control), the easier it will be to focus on things that you can control and make changes that lead to the life—and career—you want.

2. Your co-workers

Business is characterized by competition, and winning often feels like a matter of life and death. In this sort of environment, the pressure to succeed can lead to immense stress; no one is immune to it. Add the uncertainty of a global pandemic to the list of stressors already weighing on everyone, and you have a recipe for sheer existential terror.

In this context, it’s often easy to become absorbed by your own needs and desires and to forget that others are likely feeling the same way you are. In an interview for an article in Harvard Business Review, Monica Worline, a research scientist at Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education says you can avoid this trap by being as generous as possible in how you interpret your co-workers’ behaviors. If teammates fail to show up for a meeting on time or send you emails that feel rude or insulting, fight the urge to question their commitment or reprimand them for their choice of words. Perceptions are not always reality, and our negative response to someone else’s actions isn’t always a sign that they’re wrong.

Show compassion to your co-workers—even when you think they don’t deserve it—and you’ll often find that their behavior changes, sometimes instantly. Moreover, you’ll build a reputation as someone who cares about the well-being of others, which will compel colleagues to invest in your well-being and success.

3. Your boss

If you and your co-workers feel pressured or stressed, remember that your manager probably feels the same way. Leading a team can be an isolating job; managers often have to make hard decisions by themselves and face the consequences alone.

The next time your manager approaches you with a demand that seems unreasonable or an attitude that feels less than friendly, consider the pressure he or she is almost certainly feeling. While many companies offer plenty of resources for employees experiencing heavy stress or psychological trauma, those resources aren’t typically intended for leaders. If you’re in charge, you have to deal with everyone else’s problems and trying to ignore your own.

By taking time to think about your manager’s feelings, responsibilities, and challenges, you’ll improve your ability to anticipate his or her demands and actions. You’ll also gain trust, which could be extremely helpful when it’s time to ask for a raise or promotion.

When given the opportunity, whether via formal performance evaluations or casual one-on-one conversations, ask your managers about their days and any challenges that you might be able to help solve. This simple action can give you useful insight into their daily responsibilities, and it can also help you identify ways to make yourself more valuable to the business.

4. Your customers

It’s no coincidence that some of the world’s most successful companies are also viewed as the most empathetic. Companies like Google, LinkedIn, Netflix, and Unilever are able to build products and services that people love because they can anticipate and meet the needs and expectations of their customers. If you’re in a customer-facing role or leadership position, empathy can engender appreciation and loyalty—two things every company wants.

Vince Dawkins, CEO and president of Enertia Software, said in Destination CRM that being empathetic with customers can have lasting implications for your business.

“One way to connect with your customers is to show that you genuinely care about your partnership by offering leniency with invoices,” he observed. “Give customers who are struggling financially the option to pay in installments or extend deadlines, for example. By showing that you understand what your customers are going through, you will make them that much more likely to stick around now and in the future, despite economic uncertainty.”

Businesses profit by creating something valuable. During a global health crisis, empathy is in short supply. Companies that can add empathy to their existing offerings won’t be forgotten once the pandemic passes.

Developing empathy takes deliberate effort and consistent practice, of course. Few people can be empathetic all the time, and you shouldn’t berate yourself for occasionally speaking or acting out of impulse or emotion. But the more you can incorporate empathy into your professional interactions, the easier it will be to create the career you want.

William Arruda is a founder of CareerBlast and co-creator of BrandBoost - a video-based personal branding talent development experience.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.
William Arruda
William Arruda
I’m a personal branding pioneer, motivational speaker, founder of Reach Personal Branding and cofounder of CareerBlast.TV. I'm also the bestselling author of the… Read More
Print
Reprints & Permissions
https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2020/10/09/4-ways-to-practice-empathy-at-work-and-why-its-crucial-to-your-career/

12/10/2020

Boost your business productivity while your employees work from home
Partner9 October 2020

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Now more than ever, South African businesses need the right tools, infrastructure, software, and expertise to ensure they can remain productive with a scattered workforce.

Leading ICT products and services provider BCX offers a wide range of flexible and cost-effective remote working solutions which can be deployed rapidly.

Click here to learn more about BCX’s remote working solutions.
These solutions are offered under the following five categories:

Connectivity
Devices
Applications
Security
Support
BCX solutions
https://businesstech.co.za/news/industry-news/439347/boost-your-business-productivity-while-your-employees-work-from-home/
https://businesstech.co.za/news/industry-news/439347/boost-your-business-productivity-while-your-employees-work-from-home/

BCX offers a wide range of flexible and cost-effective remote working solutions which can be deployed rapidly to ensure peak productivity.

12/10/2020

Rand set for third day of gains as stimulus optimism lifts markets
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that talks for a Covid-19 relief package had restarted
BL PREMIUM
09 OCTOBER 2020 - 10:06 ODWA MJO
The rand was on track for its third consecutive day of gains on Friday as hope for more stimulus in the US lifted market sentiment.

At 9.39am, the rand had strengthened 0.64% to R16.4806/$, 0.44% to R19.3973/€ and 0.37% to R21.3557/£. The euro had firmed 0.12% to $1.1771.
https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/markets/2020-10-09-rand-set-for-third-day-of-gains-as-stimulus-optimism-lifts-markets/

12/10/2020

Related Posts
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SARS Announces Changes To Tax Season 2020
[imagesource:here]

When you’re younger, you hear people moaning about taxes and think it’s one of those things that is surely overblown.

Then you become a functioning member of society, land a job, and when payday arrives each month, you watch a sizeable portion of your wages get chopped off.

Let’s not talk about the efficiency of how our government spends those taxes, either.

As laborious as tax season can be, there’s always the chance that you could be due a refund, and money back from SARS, however little, is always welcome.

At the same time, you could also be slapped with a SARS audit, which is enough to send shivers down the spine.

Deep breath, exhale – there is no need to panic just yet.

The first thing to consider is that a SARS verification is different to a SARS audit. The former is a value comparison between the amount shown in your ITR12 (your tax refund) and the documents that are used to determine this amount, which is done to ensure you receive the correct refund.

A SARS audit, according to CFSG, is:

…an examination of the financial and accounting records and/or the supporting documents that you have submitted to determine whether you have correctly declared your tax position to SARS.

To put it in layman’s terms: it’s to make sure that you are being truthful about your income and that any and all document you have submitted (payslips, Section 18 certificates etc.) are real and not forged or tampered with.

You may be required to upload further supporting documents, before SARS accepts the submissions you have made.

There’s also the relatively unlikely option that SARS could conduct a field audit, but this is usually easily avoided if you submit the requested documentation within the timeframe stipulated by SARS.

For those who prefer to have their taxes handled by professional tax practitioners, such as Galbraith | Rushby, they’ll be able to handle all of this for you.

Here is the really important part – a SARS audit doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve done anything wrong:

The truth is that SARS can randomly select any taxpayer for an audit. Think of it as spot checks to ensure that your documents, information and income and tax paid are all correct and in the right place.

You haven’t been charged with anything, and nobody is coming to kick the door down if you’ve been truthful on your returns.

Whilst some audits can be handled relatively promptly, there is a chance that the process could take as long as 90 business days, so you may be waiting a good while before you see that money hit your account.

Our condolences, but hopefully once everything is in order, you’ll be on the receiving end of a sweet, sweet refund.
https://www.2oceansvibe.com/2020/10/09/why-you-shouldnt-panic-if-sars-audits-you/

Read more: https://www.2oceansvibe.com/2020/10/09/why-you-shouldnt-panic-if-sars-audits-you/

Nobody likes receiving the news that they're under audit from SARS, but there's no need to panic just yet.

20/07/2020

BUSINESS INSIDER | MONEY AND MARKETS
It’s official: Stay out of office till October, and SARS will let you claim home office costs
Business Insider SA
Jul 20


Amid some uncertainty, SARS has confirmed that full-time employees will be able to claim home-office expenses during lockdown.
But you have to work from home for at least six months of the tax year.
And you can't just work from your dining room table.
For more articles, go to www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
Amid some recent uncertainty, the SA Revenue Service has confirmed that full-time employees will be able to claim home-office expenses during lockdown.

Typically, people who earn commission and independent contractors claim these expenses.

But full-time employees can also claim if they work from home for at least six months of the tax year. This means that you would have to work from home at least until the end of September, if you left the office at the start of the national lockdown.

If an employee’s duties are mainly performed from their home, they will be able to claim some expenses, a SARS spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider SA.

READ | This year, SARS may ‘auto-assess’ your tax return – here’s what you need to know
“To take a simple example, if an employee works normal office hours for a single employer for the tax year from 1 March 2020 to 28 February 2021, this requirement will be met if the employee performs their duties from the home office for more than half the year,” the spokesperson said.

However, your home office must be specifically equipped for work - and "regularly and exclusively used" for such purposes, he added. This means that you must have a dedicated work area – you can’t just use your dining room table for work.

These are some of the expenses you can claim for a home office:
Part of the interest on your bond, or part of the rental of the home - as well as municipal rates and taxes, including water and electricity. This will take into account the floorspace of your home office, compared to the total floor area of your house. If, for example, your home office is 20 square metres and your house is 200 square metres then you can deduct 10% of the qualifying expenses such as rates and taxes or interest payable on bonds. You can't deduct all your expenses.
You can also claim for stationery, and data costs.
Wear and tear on office equipment.
Importantly, if you own your home, claiming home office expenses could cost you in extra capital gains tax (CGT) when you sell.

For primary residences, the first R2 million of any capital gain on selling is not taxed. But if you tell Sars that part of your home isn't a residence, but an income-generating office, that part of your home is excluded from the capital-gains tax break.

So if you claim 10% of the floorspace of the home as an office, then 10% of the eventual selling price could be liable for CGT, at a rate of 40%. However, the CGT calculation also takes into consideration the length of time over which you use your home office

In addition, if your employer reimbursed you for data costs, stationery or other expenses - you may not have to pay tax on these payments.

“(An) employer’s reimbursement of an expense incurred by an employee is not taxable if the expense has been incurred at the employer’s instruction, for the employer’s trade, and the employee must account for it to the employer to prove that it has only been used for that purpose," the SARS spokesperson said.

Examples of reimbursed expenses that would not be subject to tax would be data bundles purchased to work from home and stationery used for work purposes.

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