New Transfer Duty Declarations

On the 26th of January, the GhostConvey Product Management team attended a productive workshop at the SARS Head Office in Pretoria to discuss the issues surrounding the implementation of the new Transfer Duty and VAT 249 declarations.

The session was chaired by Peter Franck, Commissioner: SARS Law Administration - Indirect Taxes. Also present were representatives of the Law Society of South Africa, representatives of the Chief Registrar of Deeds, senior conveyancers and representatives from several regional SARS offices.

Commissioner Franck explained that the collection of Transfer Duty has historically been a manual and labour-intensive process. The electronic filing of Transfer Duty Declarations will enable SARS to gain great efficiencies and ensure effective compliance with the tax laws.

The workshop was divided into two sessions: A demonstration of the SARS e-Filing system by the SARS software team, which was followed by an in depth review of the proposed new Transfer Duty Declaration forms. Delegates were afforded the opportunity to provide extensive input during each session.

A date for the release of the new forms has not been fixed, but Commissioner Franck assured delegates that there will be a window period during which both the old and new forms will be accepted. This will ensure a smooth transition from the old to the new forms.

Further discussions to finalise the new forms and to set a release date will be held shortly.

GhostDigest will publish developments as they unfold.