WILL THE TURNOVER TAX ON SMALL BUSINESSES BENEFIT YOU?

The question is: "Will you pay less tax"?

As part of Government’s mandate SARS announced a simplified tax system in 2008 to reduce the tax compliance burden on small businesses. The simplified system is called Turnover Tax on Micro Businesses and it is a single tax that does away with the need to account for Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, STC and Vat. Sound great, doesn’t it? Don’t get excited too soon, read on.

Qualifying taxpayers have the choice to get taxed on turnover based on the new system or on profits based on the old system. This is an important distinction to make. Under the new system you will start paying tax from the first rand of sales, whether you make a profit or not. Even if you make massive losses, you will still pay tax. On the current system you will only pay tax if you make a profit.

The following tax rates are applicable:

Turnover (R)	Tax payable
0-100000	0%
100 001-300 000	1% of each R1 above R300 000
300 001-500 000	R2 000 + 3% of amount above R300 000
500 001-750 000	R8 000 + 5% of amount above R500 000
750 001 and above	R20 500 + 7% of amount above R750 000

Once a taxpayer has elected the new system, he needs to remain in the system for a period of three years. If the taxpayer discovers that he pays more tax under the new system, he will have to wait for the three years to elapse before he can opt out. Also keep in mind that the taxpayer will not be able to re-register for a period of three years after opting out.

The option is available to sole proprietors, close corporations, companies and cooperatives with an annual turnover of less than 1 Million rand. Trusts are excluded.

Businesses under the new system will not be able to register for Vat as proper records need to be kept for Vat. Businesses currently registered will have to deregister and pay over Output Vat on the market value of assets. This may hurt your cash-flow.

What advantages are there for you?
The only records you need to keep are receipts and details of assets with a value greater than R10 000. There will be a saving in accounting and bookkeeping fees, as well as a reduction in administration duties. Keep in mind that you will still have to do some sort of bookkeeping, as it is impossible to run a business efficiently without proper accounting records.

Will you benefit?
It depends. Taxpayers who make a big margin on sales and have low overheads will benefit. The problem is that most taxpayers who fall into this category are in the service industry and personal service providers are specifically excluded.

Are you excluded?
The following businesses are excluded:

Any person who holds shares in another company for any period during the year.
When more than ten percent of the receipts are from investment income (interest/dividends)
Personal service providers
A labour broker without an exemption certificate
Professional service providers
A taxpayer if the proceed from the sale of assets exceed R1.5 million over a three year period.

A CC or company if

at any period during the year any shareholder of the company or CC held a shares in any other company or CC
it is a recreational club
it is a Public benefit organisation
at any period during the year any of its shareholders were not natural persons.

If you are eligible make a three year forecast and determine whether you will pay less tax under the normal tax system or the turnover tax system. Take administrative savings into account and choose the system that will lead to the least amount of tax.

We are of the opinion that most businesses will not benefit by switching to the new system. Start-up companies make little, if any, profit during the first years of operation. To pay tax on turnover instead of profit during this period does not make much sense. Start-up businesses that could have benefited, namely service companies, are specifically excluded in most circumstances.