The Amnesty Unit expects to have processed all of the approximately 43 000 applications it has received by the end of this month, Jabulani Moleketi, the Deputy Minister of Finance told Parliament this week.
Applications that are straightforward and where there is no need for further information, will then either be approved or denied in accordance with the terms of the amnesty.
The Amnesty Unit expects to have finalised the adjudication of all other applications, where further information has been requested, by the end of September, Molekdti told Parliament.
The amnesty was announced in February 2003 and South Africans had until the end of February last year to declare foreign assets held in contravention of exchange controls and/or assets that had not been declared for tax purposes. If you are granted amnesty, you will not be prosecuted for the exchange control or tax offences committed before February 2003 in relation to the assets you declared in your application.
You may have to pay an amnesty levy. This levy will be based on the value of the assets you declare that exceeds any unused portion of your R750 000 offshore allowance. The levy will be five or 10 percent of this amount, depending on whether you bring your offshore funds back to South Africa or leave them offshore.
Moleketi said that the levies could raise R2.3 billion. The value of the assets disclosed in the 35 198 applications which have been processed so far is R50.7 billion.
That time of year again ...
Your tax return is due in on Friday July, 8 and by now you should have received it from the South African Revenue Service (SARS). If you have not, visit your nearest SARS office.
If you are a salaried employee, you should also by now have received an IRP5 tax certificate from your employer, containing the details of the pay you earned during the past tax year.
Tax consultant Hugh Knight says the Income Tax Act states that under normal circumstances, your employer must give you an IRP5 certificate within 60 days of the end of the tax year - that is by April 30.
You must then submit this certificate with your tax return.
The issuing of IRP5s may only be delayed if your employer has been given an extension by SARS.
In this case, ask your employer for a copy of the document authorising the extension, so that you, in turn, can apply for an extension on the tax return deadline from SARS.