Are there penalties imposed by SARS for late submission of estate tax returns and late payment of estate duty?
Important:
This answer is based on tax law year ending 28 February 2021.
Answer:
See section 210(2) of the Tax Administration Act, but the date for submission of the REV267 is also not listed in notice issued by SARS – see section 7(1) of the Estate Duty Act. There is also no late payment penalty provided for. Section 9C, of the Estate Duty Act, deals with the payment of estate duty and it reads as follows: “The duty payable under this Act shall be paid on such date as may be prescribed in the notice of assessment issued in terms of section 9(3).” Section 10, deals with the payment of interest, as you indicated. Under section 10(1), if any duty remains unpaid at the expiration of a period of thirty days from the date for payment prescribed in terms of section 9C, there shall be payable, in addition to the unpaid duty, interest at the rate of six per cent per annum on the amount of unpaid duty calculated from the date of the expiration of the said period to the date of payment: Provided that, where the assessment of duty is delayed beyond a period of twelve months from the date of death, interest at the rate of six per cent per annum shall be payable as from a date twelve months after the date of death on the difference (if any) between the duty assessed and any deposit (if any) made on account of the duty payable within the said period of twelve months. The ability to make a payment of a deposit is the only way that the executor can prevent the interest being levied (or partly so).