Deadline for Tax Advisers

Tax practitioners who complete tax returns for a fee or provide advice have until July 2013 to find a controlling body if they want to be recognized under the new Tax Administration Act. The Tax practitioner has to be registered with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) by 1 July this year, in terms of the act which came into effect in October 2012.

Those who do not register could face legal action.

This was implemented to shield the taxpayers from unprofessional conduct by the practitioners who could place their funds at a great risk.

There are new regulations to hold the tax practitioner liable for the advice he gives to the tax payer, and also to root out any unreliable practitioners. The regulations requires all tax practitioners to register with controlling bodies such as the Institute for Tax Practitioners (Sait), the South Africa Institute of Professional Accountants (Saica) and the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors amongst others.

The act also allows the controlling bodies to take disciplinary action against the practitioners who fail to comply with the body’s rules.

The new legislation states that controlling bodies can now enforce minimum qualifications and continuing  educational requirements, ensuring that the public is no longer at the mercy of tax practitioners who are not up to date with the latest developments. Tax payers can now take pride in the fact that their tax advisers meet the minimum industry standard, and undertake in continual professional education and are now subject to a disciplinary code.

Unfortunately highly experienced practitioners may not be able to practice legally unless they comply with the regulations of a controlling body to which they are required to belong.

Saica welcomed the legislation saying that the tax profession should be regulated. “Saica was however not in favor of a statutory regulator that would regulate and provide services to tax practitioners” said Piet Nel, Saica’s project director for tax

An unregulated industry meant spending a great deal of time and energy to correct errors caused by unprofessional conduct of a significant number of tax practitioners, according to Adrian Lackay, SARS spokesperson.  

It is proposed that the regulation of tax practitioners be divided into two phases. The first phase will be the compulsory registration of tax practitioners with a recognized controlling body.



“The second phase will be the establishment of an independent regulatory board for tax practitioners." This will start with a review of the first phase 18 months after its implementation, said Lackay.