SARS Extends Third Party Data Submission System
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has extended its Third Party Business Requirement Specification (BRS) for data submissions via Direct Data Flow (DDF) to include withholding tax on interest and tax-free savings and investments.
The extension will be available for year-end data submissions due on May 31, 2016 (for the tax reporting period from March 1, 2015 to February 29, 2016). The previous BRS remains applicable for mid-year submissions due by October 31, 2015 (for the reporting period from March 1, 2015 to August 31, 2015).
That BRS covers the reporting to SARS of third-party data on dividends tax; interest income from investments, rental income, dividends, royalties, and other income that was due, paid or accrued to account holders; and the automatic exchange of tax information, including under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act intergovernmental agreement with the United States.
Taxpayers can submit third-party supporting data to SARS via eFiling and SARS branch manual capturing, but for limited volumes only.
Alternatively DDF reduces the overall administrative burden of large volume data transfers, shortens data processing cycle times, and provides for faster feedback. Taxpayers who want to use the DDF must have eFiling profiles to enroll.
Taxpayers choosing to use the DDF need to be in possession of a security certificate to ensure secure file submission. They will also be required to declare the accuracy of the data submitted to SARS by authorizing the data submission.
