SARS has a new target in South Africa

While cryptocurrency adoption in South Africa has grown significantly in recent years, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is seemingly beginning to play hardball when it comes to outstanding tax liability.

In early June, SARS reportedly reached out to independent South African crypto platforms to provide information on its client base, said Thomas Lobban, legal manager for cross-border taxation at Tax Consulting SA.

This came on the back of statements made by the SARS commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, that non-compliance in this regard would not be tolerated.

“There seems to be a good reason for this approach. Individual South African taxpayers have largely been overburdened from a tax perspective, and this, among other issues such as pervasive corruption in government, have resulted in a sharp reduction in the willingness of South Africans to comply with their tax obligations,” said Lobban.

“Combined with the erroneous belief that crypto-asset transactions cannot be traced upon audit, this means that many taxpayers are still under the impression that SARS will not pick up on crypto tax evasion.”

Lobban said that the lack of meaningful guidance from SARS has not helped the situation either, leaving crypto investors with nothing more than their own best guesses about the correct tax treatment to be applied in each case.

“Most have very strange beliefs about tax and crypto assets, such as tax only becoming applicable upon withdrawal, or crypto not previously being subject to tax at all.”

A more capable SAS

While hesitant to guide the correct tax treatment concerning crypto-assets in different scenarios, SARS has embarked on a project to reinvent itself and improve its information-gathering mechanisms, said Lobban.

“It is not restricted to South Africa’s borders, either. SARS can request the collection and provision of information in relation to a taxpayer from other revenue authorities globally, as well as request assistance in the collection of tax in terms of the many tax treaties it has in place. This means that taxpayers should not only concern themselves with what transactions may be visible to SARS but also other revenue authorities in different countries as well.”

Tax on crypto assets is still not well understood by most South African tax practitioners either, Lobban noted.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, taxpayers have been advised by a tax practitioner that their crypto profits will be subject to capital gains tax (CGT) rather than normal tax, he said.

CGT is levied at a lower effective rate to normal tax, but crypto is not subject to CGT in most cases.

“An important point to note is that, from this year onwards, it has become easier for South African authorities to secure criminal convictions for tax offences. What must be proved in this regard is not only whether a taxpayer willfully committed an alleged offence but, alternatively, that the taxpayer had acted negligently. While we are not aware of any convictions secured yet, one may presume that SARS will soon be looking to make examples. It is thus crucial that taxpayers make sure to meet their obligations and remain compliant,” said Lobban.

To stay in SARS’ good books and avoid sanctions, crypto investors should approach the tax body first and declare crypto profits and losses in their returns, Lobban said.

“For outstanding historic tax liability, there are avenues for correction without the threat of criminal liability; however, the options available to taxpayers become severely limited once SARS notifies them of an impending or potential audit. It is prudent for crypto investors to obtain competent advice from a tax firm, preferably with a strong legal component.”

Source: businesstech.co.za

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Iwo Bulski

Issues related to the gambling business is engaged in more than 30 years. My empirical experience gives me the opportunity to present events and companies from this business with full knowledge and industry knowledge.

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Iwo Bulski

Issues related to the gambling business is engaged in more than 30 years. My empirical experience gives me the opportunity to present events and companies from this business with full knowledge and industry knowledge.