Individual tax practitioners - including people who help you fill in your tax return for a fee - have to register their details with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) by the end of this month.
This is in terms of an amendment to the Income Tax Act passed in November last year.
Adrian Lackay, a spokesperson for SARS, says the purpose of the registration process is to collect information about practitioners who are providing services to taxpayers, with a view to regulating them and setting ethical standards for them.
Lackay says SARS believes more than 60 000 people provide tax advice or complete or assist in completing tax-related documents which are submitted to SARS.
You, the taxpayer, are responsible for what is filled in on your return and for submitting it, but SARS has had cases where advisers have, for example, disappeared without submitting taxpayers' returns, he says.
Only natural people are expected to register with SARS, so businesses, corporations, associations, co-operatives, close corporations and partnerships are not expected to do so. Individuals providing tax advisory services who work within these entities are, however, required to register.
Attorneys and advocates who advise on litigation in tax cases do not have to register.
SARS wants individuals who give tax advice to supply information about their qualifications, experience, membership of existing professional bodies and the nature and extent of the services they provide.
Anyone who sets up as a tax practitioner after the June 30 deadline should register within 30 days of commencing their services.
Anyone who fails to register by the deadline will be liable to a fine or imprisonment.