“Tax Practitioners” or “Tax Guys”: You will probably have a person who handles your tax affairs. This is fantastic but a warning – there are different types.
Preparer:
This is a person who is not qualified to give advice but is allowed to prepare tax returns on behalf of people. They cannot submit the return. These are often part of a tax department in a accounting or tax firm. These preparers gather all the information, prepare the return and someone else would check and submit the return. These “experts” cannot charge for their services directly. They cannot be held responsible for any incorrect information as they did not submit the return.
Practitioner:
This is a person who is qualified and can give advice. These are qualified practitioners and can call themselves “tax practitioners”. They must be registered with SARS as practitioners. In order to be a tax practitioner, they have to be a member of a regulatory professional body. These few bodies have their own requirements that have to be met. These are stringent. They have these requirements so they can ensure the quality of advice is at a level that is up to the highest standards. A member has to do a certain number CPD (continual professional development) hours. This is a number of hours that keeps the practitioner up to date with all changes in the tax acts.
The difference is two fold, the advice given and the responsibility of submitting the tax documents on the tax payers behalf.
Before you run off and hand your tax affairs to someone, whether its someone you know or not, it is advisable to make sure that person is actually registered. This can done on the SARS website at www.sars.gov.za or on the regulatory body website. If they are registered, great! If you cannot find them, ask them about their registrations.
Bruce Laister of BC Accounting Services (Pty) Ltd is a registered with SARS and is one of their tax practitioners. See how he can help you here.
This article was updated in March 2023