CATEGORIES
- (1) Negotiating Tax Debt and Payment Arrangements with SARS
- (34)Accounting
- (1)Accounting for Income Tax
- (2)Accounting for Income Tax
- (8)Administration of Estates
- (1)Advisory Services
- (1)Application of tax rates, s6(2) rebates
- (1)Assessed losses
- (4)Audit, Reviews & Other Services
- (9)Blogs
- (8)Capital Gains Tax
- (1)Capital Gains Tax - Individuals Tax
- (1)Capital Gains Tax Implications of Trusts
- (2)Case study: Home office expense
- (1)Case study: Travel allowances
- (1)Company Formations
- (1)Compliance
- (123)Corporate Tax
- (9)Customs and Excise
- (2)Deceased Estate
- (1)Deductions Pre-trade and prepaid expenses
- (1)Deregistration
- (2)Employer and Employee (PAYE and UIF Specific)
- (1)Estate Duty
- (1)Events / Webinars
- (10)Faculty News
- (2)Farming
- (152)Individuals Tax
- (1)Input - Customs Duty
- (3)Interest
- (13)International Tax
- (17)Legislation
- (1)Low interest rate loans and loan subsidies
- (1)Nature of the rights of beneficiaries
- (1)Notional input tax
- (9)Payroll
- (2)Practical Payroll
- (2)Provisional tax (Link with other Taxes)
- (2)SARS Dispute Resolution
- (4)SARS Issues
- (1)Salaried Employees
- (135)Tax Administration
- (2)Tax Administration Part 2B: Resolving Problems with SARS using the Tax Ombud
- (1)Tax Administration Part 3B Dispute Resolution - Objection and appeal
- (3)Tax Update
- (1)Tax implications of loans to trusts
- (1)Tax residence
- (1)Tax returns and payments
- (2)Transfer-Pricing
- (1)Trust Income / Gain Allocations
- (1)Trust types and income allocations
- (6)Trusts
- (72)VAT
- (3)VAT periods
- (1)Wear and tear allowances
- (1)Wills, Estates & Trusts
- (1)Zero Rated
- (1)eFiling
- Show All
Deceased estates - tax returns
- 03 January 2013
- Deceased Estate
- SAIT Technical
Important:
This article is based on tax law for the tax year ending 28 February 2013.
By Angelique Visser (FISA/Moneywebtax)
Executive summary
Executors of deceased estates often experience delays when IRP5 tax certificates are requested from employers, despite the Income Tax Act requirement that such certificates have to be provided within 14 days of the date of death.
Full article
One of the many duties of the executor is to ensure that all outstanding tax returns for previous tax years are completed and submitted to SARS, as well as a return for the year in which the personpassed away. Executors call for tax certificates from various institutions and are dependent on their prompt assistance for these documents in order to proceed with the completion of the tax returns as the estate cannot be finalised without this.
As most financial institutions have a dedicated department to issue tax certificates, known as an IT3(b), these certificates are normally received within a reasonable time after being requested by the executor. It is important that executors however understand the various financial institutions' processes and turnaround times. To assist fiduciary practitioners and members of the public, details can be obtained on FISA's website -www.fidsa.org.za- under the Processes tab.
Delays are however often experienced when tax certificates (IRP5s) are requested from employers. Although the Income Tax Act stipulates that these certificates have to be provided within 14 days of the date of death, employers are generally not complying as these certificates have to be issued manually. They tend to wait rather until they process alltheir IRP5s together at year-end. This means that executors experience delays in finalising estates and heirs are unable to obtain their inheritance on which they are often totally dependant. FISA therefore appeals to all employers to assist executors by reviewing their processes in order to be able to provide these documents as quickly as possible.