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Assessing the Role of a Public Officer in Regards to Tax Planning
27th January 2023
In terms of assessing the role of a Public Officer in regards to Tax Planning, it is essential to recognise that the role of public officer in any company is one of extreme importance in tax planning, and in maintaining a good record with the South African Revenue Services (SARS).
It also goes towards your reputation if you have shareholders, as well as with clients and investors, none of whom would want to deal with a company that has a bad reputation with SARS, since it has a ripple effect on every aspect of the business.
The public officer is the tax face of your business, and is the person responsible for maintaining a good relationship taxwise with SARS, in terms of ensuring that all necessary registrations are done on time, that all submissions are submitted when required, and that all tax payments are received by SARS timeously.
Assessing the role of a Public Officer in regards to tax planning
Because the role of a public officer is such a wide ranging role, it is essential that the person appointed to this position has the necessary knowledge and skill to balance all the tax matters of the company in a proactive manner, ensuring that penalties aren’t incurred due to late payments or submissions.
A public officer has to be a natural person who is a resident of South Africa, and SARS has to approve of the person who is appointed to the position as well.
He or she will be responsible for seeing to all the tax affairs of the company, which means that the public officer will be regarded by SARS as the person answerable for all the tax duties and affairs that are expected to be carried out by the company.
The public officer is responsible for, among other duties;
- Registering the company owner as taxpayer
- Registering the company owner as an employer
- Submission of annual tax returns
- Submission of provisional tax returns
- Registration for VAT
- Submission of employee’s tax monthly declarations and annual returns
- Maintaining and attending to any and all tax registrations and/or de-registrations such as Income Tax, PAYE, UIF, VAT and SDL
- Notification of any address changes
- Notification of bank account changes
- Acceptance of notices served against the company
Proactive planning of tax matters
As you can see from just a few of the responsibilities placed on the shoulders of a public officer, it is essential for the person in this important position to take a proactive approach to maintaining a good reputation for the company with SARS, in terms of planning tax matters.
None of these submissions, registrations and payments are done at the same time. Some are quarterly, monthly, yearly and so on, which means that if the public officer lets the ball drop, there could be costly repercussions, which may include penalties imposed by SARS.
This is a role that can only be handled by one dedicated person, in order to keep the tax affairs of your company streamlined, and to maintain your reputation with all concerned.
Should you wish to consider outsourcing public officer duties, then Kilgetty Public Officer Services is on hand to step in, save you time and money with their expertise and skill.
Contact Kilgetty Statutory Services today to find out more about how this leading company secretarial firm in South Africa can assist you in regards to tax planning, corporate services and administrative services.
As the leading company secretarial service provider to clients of the “Big 4” auditing practices in South Africa, and some of the major legal practices too, you can rely on these industry leaders to tailor services that will make tax planning a cinch for you.
