If a person works on a ship from March to November is the SARS table B for November used to calculate the exchange rate?
Important:
This answer is based on tax law year ending 28 February 2021.
Answer:
The general rule, see section 25D(1) of the Income Tax Act, is that any amount received by or accrued to … a person during any year of assessment in any currency other than the currency of the Republic must be translated to the currency of the Republic by applying the spot rate on the date on which that amount was so received or accrued ... In terms of section 25D(3), a natural person … may elect that all amounts received by or accrued to … that person … in any currency other than the currency of the Republic, be translated to the currency of the Republic by applying the average exchange rate for the relevant year of assessment. Remember that any foreign tax must however “be translated to the currency of the Republic on the last day of that year of assessment by applying the average exchange rate for that year of assessment.” See section 6quat(4). Note that Table B, published by SARS, provides a list of the monthly average exchange rates to assist a person whose year of assessment is shorter or longer than 12 months. Table A, in turn, provides the list of the average exchange rates of selected currencies for a year of assessment. A taxpayer doesn’t have to use the SARS provided ones.