Is it correct in saying that VDP applications doesn't apply for accountants or tax practitioners and accounting firms for their own returns?
Important:
This answer is based on tax law year ending 28 February 2020.
Answer:
Not sure where you heard this, but the Tax Administration Act doesn’t exclude a taxpayer from doing a voluntary disclosure purely based on the fact the person also happens to be a registered tax practitioner.
The voluntary disclosure relief only applies where the requirements of a valid voluntary disclosure are present – see section 227 of the Tax Administration Act.
A ‘default’, for purposes of a disclosure, means the submission of inaccurate or incomplete information to SARS, or the failure to submit information or the adoption of a ‘tax position’, where such submission, non-submission, or adoption resulted in an understatement.
An ‘understatement’, in turn, means “any prejudice to SARS or the fiscus as a result of—
(a) a default in rendering a returnÍž
(b) an omission from a returnÍž
(c) an incorrect statement in a returnÍž or
(d) if no return is required, the failure to pay the correct amount of ‘tax’; or
(e) an “impermissible avoidance arrangement”.
One of the requirements of a valid voluntary disclosure is that the disclosure must involve a behaviour referred to in column 2 of the understatement penalty percentage table in section 223 – see section 227(d).