Exploring the Key Terms and Conditions of Public Officer Services Under the Income Tax Act

Before we get to exploring the key terms and conditions of Public Officer Services under the Income Tax Act, it may help to look at what Income Tax is in the first instance, regarding the Act.

As the South African government’s main source of income, Income Tax is levied on all income and profits that are received by any taxpayer, which is imposed by the Income Tax Act No.58 of 1962.

This includes companies, trusts and individuals, and although this form of tax is generally considered a normal form of income tax, the fact is that the Income Tax Act also forms part of many other forms of taxes, such as donations tax or capital gains tax.

The Act affects companies in the form of taxes that need to be paid, such as PAYE, UIF, Provisional and Annual tax, and more, which is the purview of a public officer appointed to any company.

The South African Revenue Services (SARS), considers every business to be a legal entity, and as such, is expected to meet with specific legal requirements in order to carry on their business formally.

This includes partnerships, companies and sole proprietors, which are, in general, the most common forms of business structures in South Africa.

Each of these are expected by SARS to appoint a Public Officer within one month of starting to operate, or of having registered business premises in South Africa.

Exploring the Key Terms and Conditions of Public Officer Services under the Income Tax Act

The key terms and conditions of Public Officer Services are determined by SARS, and as mentioned above, not only does SARS expect a company to appoint a public officer within a specific period of time, SARS also has the right to approve or disapprove of the public officer you appoint.

The public officer of any company has to be a natural person who is a resident of South Africa, and should all the directors of a company incorporated in South Africa not be residents of South Africa, Kilgetty Public Officer Services will assist by providing a public officer on their behalf. 

In fact, considering the extreme importance of the role a public officer has in terms of being the representative taxpayer of the company in the eyes of SARS and the CIPC, many companies have opted to outsource the duties of a public officer in order to consolidate, streamline and save money, when it comes to dealing with all their statutory obligations and tax-related responsibilities.

The public officer is responsible for, among other duties, registering the company for VAT, registration of the company owner as a taxpayer and as an employer, submission of annual and provisional tax returns and submission of employee’s monthly tax declarations.

In addition to this, the public officer is responsible for the registration, submission and timeous payment of PAYE, UIF, SDL and more, as well as being responsible for notifying SARS of any address changes, and acceptance of any notices that may be served against the company.

Consolidate Public Officer Services with Kilgetty Statutory Services

The team of professionals at Kilgetty Statutory Services has all the answers you could possibly need, when it comes to consolidating all your statutory obligations and public officer services.

Contact Kilgetty today to find out more about how these experts can tailor all the statutory services and public officer services you may require, to meet your budget.

This is a team that is committed to taking a proactive approach to keeping your business on track, while giving you the time and space to grow your wealth!