Overview

The filing season for the submission of the Annual Return of Income for Trusts (IT12T) commenced on 16 September 2024 and ended on 20 January 2025.

Changes were made to the IT12T on 23 June 2023, mainly including the Beneficial Ownership Declaration and the details of the mandatory supporting documentation required to be uploaded prior to the submission of the Return. If the supporting documentation was not uploaded, the Return was marked as pending and was not recognised as submitted.

All registered trusts were required to register for income tax and submit annual returns of income, even if they were dormant or passive, such as non-income-producing property owning only.

The webinar was a hands-on practical walkthrough of how to complete the Return of Income, upload the mandatory documentation, prepare the supporting documentation, and lodge the return in a timely manner to ensure minimal enquiries from SARS.

The webinar included practical examples of how to compute the figures for submission, an overview of the information required in the Annual Financial Statements, and the trustees’ mandatory documentation.

Webinar Content

A walkthrough of the questions to be answered in the Form Wizard in order to generate the Return of Income.

Within the time frame for the timely submission of the Return of Income, the following steps were required to ensure a smooth filing season:

Tax Practitioner (PRIOR to Filing Date):

• Checked that the correct contact details, address, and banking details were recorded on eFiling. If not, they were amended via the RAV01 form.
• Ensured that the Main Trustee and SARS Taxpayer Representative were appointed and verified. If not, the online portal was used to upload the required documentation for the appointment of the Main Trustee.
  • Note: The online portal, available on the SARS Home Page, was more efficient and expedient.

Tax Practitioner (in Preparation for the Submission of the IT12T):

• Signed Annual Financial Statements (AFS).
• Details of Beneficiaries/Taxpayer (full contact details, tax number) for attribution, vesting, and distributions.
• Details of loan accounts, including terms of the loan, whether subject to S7C, and loan account balance.
• Trust statutory information, including trustee resolutions, amendments to the trust deed, Letters of Authority, and minutes of trustees' meetings.
• Master of High Court UBO form.

Accountant:

• Determined the taxable income and its allocation for vesting or distributions, considering any attributions due to loan accounts.
• Prepared the Annual Financial Statements.
• Prepared supporting documentation for the figures in the Return of Income.

Trustees:

• Ensured that resolutions and minutes were in place and had been signed.
• Ensured the records were complete for the trust deed, amendments thereto, and the latest Letters of Authority were in place.

Competencies Developed

• Understanding the filing season timeline and the pre-preparation administration required to ensure a smooth filing season.
• Understanding the buildup to the questions in the Form Wizard in order to generate the IT12T on eFiling.
• Understanding the mandatory information required to be lodged with the IT12T in order for the assessment to be issued.
• Understanding the supporting documentation required to prepare the IT12T and to manage any subsequent SARS queries.

Presenter

Cheryl Howard 

Cheryl Howard qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Deloitte. Her professional career remained with Deloitte and Kessel Feinstein (now SNG Grant Thornton) in their respective Private Client tax departments. In 1994 she joined BoE Private Bank, managing the Private Client, Deceased Estates and Fiduciary businesses for the Johannesburg office. 

In 2000 she formed her own multiple family office practice, focusing solely on high-net-worth clients, attending to the administration of their tax, estate planning and fiduciary requirements. 

Cheryl sold her business in 2018 to an international fiduciary company, managing their South African office until the end of 2020. After an almost three-year sabbatical, Cheryl has re-commenced her Family Office Practice with the same professional service offerings as before, with a small team of professionals.

She is also involved in various coaching and training projects within the family office, tax and accounting, and fiduciary sectors. Using her 30 odd years’ experience in high-net-worth client consulting and client relationship management to develop teams and professionals wanting to specialise within family office planning and the high-net-worth client. Sharing practical experiences and family planning stories while giving the professional a practical toolkit to build upon their technical studies. Basically to nurture and refine the consultant to be client centric while providing best advice.

Cheryl has both presented on and written articles for various professional bodies, media and journals on family office planning and its dynamics. She has appeared on TV and radio discussing various aspects of estate, tax, and financial planning.

She has been a past Board member of the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA) and Society of Tax and Estate Practitioners (STEP) as well as a task team member on various SARS / Treasury projects.

CPD

Attending this webinar and the successful completion of the online assessment will secure a certificate of completion for 2 hours of Tax CPD.

Event Investment

Free for Tax Technician, Tax Practitioner, Tax Accountant CPD subscribers and Practice Packages. Not a CPD subscriber yet? Click here to register now.

• Regular price: R460.00 
• SAIT member special discounted rate: R368.00 
• Group booking discounts available when you register for a group.

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