Kaya Biz: SARS disallowed over 60% of home office claims last year

Kaya 959 Reporter

Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter told MPs on Friday that the SA Revenue Service (Sars) has refused R1.8 billion of the R2.9 billion claims for home office costs claims made to date in the 2021/2022 tax year.

The COVID 19 outbreak and the government-imposed lockdowns to deal with it resulted in thousands of workers compelled many to work from home, resulting in a rush of claims.

The conditions of the claims were clearly stipulated, however many South Africans didn’t qualify.

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Kaya Biz with Gugulethu Mfuphi spoke to Jashwin Baijoo a Legal Manager at Africa Tax and Compliance at Tax Consulting SA about some of the reasons people’s claims were not allowed by SARS.

Baijoo gave a background of the home claims legislation and its origin.

“I think as a starting point we need to consider what is a home office deduction, so as you are aware under normal circumstances employees can not pay for expenses related to their work unless it is provided for in their contractual employment.”

“In light of COVID 19 where a whole lot of work was happening, the deductions became available for employees that do work from home, who earn commission on duties outside their employees’ office.”-

“However, the items deducted are limited, SARS has said the requirements to be met are quite stringent, and when we look at the requirement we look at the particular legislation,” says Baijoo.

He also says that many of the claims failed to prove that they were using the homes as office space according to the SARS guidelines.

He further stated the categories of people who were eligible to claim to be your commission earners as well as salaried employees and outlined the conditions of claiming.

Written by: Zuko

covid 19 Crime South Africa Home office Kaya Biz Parenting