The time for filing your personal tax return is almost here again. It always starts around July.

And this is why.

01 Mar 2012- 28 Feb 2013

This is your financial year. A period of twelve months, ending at the end of February each year. Working hard, paying tax, paying UIF, very nice.

01 Mar 2013- 31 May 2013

This is the period of time that your employer has to reconcile with SARS the PAYE and UIF he has been paying all along (01 Mar 2012- 28 Feb 2013) to SARS on your behalf. Once that is done. The IRP5 certificates are issued.

Because throughout the year, he just pays lump sums to SARS, and SARS doesn’t know why. So now is the time that the employer will tell SARS, “Okay, the R100 000 total PAYE I paid throughout the year, R10 000 was for Jan, R5000 was for Mary, R20 000 was for Piet, etc, etc”

01 Jun 2013- 30 Jun 2013

SARS has now received the recons from employers, as well as the IRP5’s of employees. Yes that’s right, SARS has a copy of your IRP5, so it is a good idea not to try and lie to them about your income.

They put the info all together during this period and make plans for the personal tax filing season that opens on the 01 Jul 2013. I would imagine it is something like how many taxpayers to accommodate, how much refunds will be paid back to taxpayers, do they need to hire more staff or get new computers?

Say like prepare the same way one would prepare for a wedding perhaps.

01 Jul 2013- End Nov 2013

This is now the time that you have to file your return. As a kid, I always wondered why it’s called a “return”? I still wonder about it.

Anyways, now you take your income certificates, your deduction certificates, everything that will have an effect on your tax.  And this is now like a final tell-all story to SARS.  That these are my incomes, these are my deductions, this is the tax I have already paid.

SARS will then either refund you if you have paid too much tax, ask for more money if you’ve paid too less tax throughout the year, or you would break even. As in you don’t get a refund, and nor would you have to pay in money.

And that’s about how this tax year and financial year and periods story works. Email us at admin@irp5.co.za if you have any other queries.