SARS and tax issues can be daunting. Many people simply ignore personal income tax, hoping with every year which passes they’ll somehow fall off the SARS radar for good.

Unfortunately, dodging tax doesn’t work like this. SARS runs a tight ship and avoiding compliance when it comes to personal income tax will catch up with you at some stage.

Personal income tax is tax which you pay on your taxable income and the revenue generated from this is an important source of income for the government.

Taxable income is determined by, for example, remuneration (salaries, wages, bonuses, overtime pay, allowances and certain lump sum benefits), profits or losses from a business or trade, income or profits arising from an individual being a beneficiary of a trust, director’s fees, rental income or losses and pension income.

While people tend to believe everything about declaring tax is to the benefit of government, there are actually a lot of incentives for taxpayers.

In order to take advantage of these incentives, it’s advisable to use the services of a professional accountant or a quality accounting software package. Yes, financial and accounting software isn’t only for businesses. Why not run your home like you do your business?

Just like in a business, financial transactions take place in a household every day. Think about it – you have day-to-day expenses, staff to pay on time, are trying to stick to a budget, need to know what you are buying and spending money on, you’re balancing your cheque book and thinking about filing receipts for tax purposes.

With financial software, like QuickBooks, you can organise all your expenses, payments and other transactions in one place so that when it comes time to submit your personal income tax, your transaction history is accurate and easily accessible.

Instead of getting yourself into a state on deadline for personal income tax submissions, you can find everything you need at the click of a button and quickly translate this information into your tax return.

The reason many people end up in financial stress is because they aren’t good with admin tasks and, especially, accounting. Thankfully, you don’t need to be a figures guru in order to stay tax compliant and stay on top of your finances.

With the right accounting software, you will not only be more confident about your personal income tax, but you’ll enable your employees (nanny, gardener, housekeeper) to also build a healthy financial future by paying them on time, every time.

If you earn extra income, like for example an income from renting out a property, this is an important aspect to track for personal income tax purposes.

With the convenience of SARS efiling, you can easily and efficiently complete your personal income tax return and submit on time for tax season 2018.

QuickBooks is helping thousands of small businesses and households keep their finger on their finances and stay tax compliant. Call 010 203 4300 today or email info@easybiztech.co.za to find out how we can help you.