NEW RULES: WHO REPORTS YOUR INCOME TO THE TAXMAN?
“Third party reporting enables income tax returns to be pre-populated and helps SARS to verify accuracy of taxpayers’ disclosures.” (SARS) Be aware that SARS has a new information stream which it will use to cross-reference to information you supply, to pre-populate your tax returns, and (presumably) to check generally for compliance and for completeness of […]
THE AUGUST WEBSITES: APPS FOR EVERYTHING (AND HOW TO CHOOSE THEM)
Smartphones, tablets, mobile devices. They are the future of the Internet, and the exponential growth in the number of businesses and individuals using them means that – very shortly – that future will be here. You need to be part of it! And once you are the proud owner of your new device, you really […]
LEARNER DRIVERS – TOUGH REGULATIONS LOOM
If you don’t yet have a driver’s licence (and if you do, pass this warning on to any friends or family without one), apply as soon as you can. Proposed new Road Traffic Regulations – which could be implemented any time now – will radically toughen up the rules applying to provisional licence holders.The draft […]
DEBT COLLECTION ALERT! NEW NOTICE DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS
Credit Providers: Before you can sue on any credit agreement, you must “deliver” to the consumer a National Credit Act notice of default. There are several ways to accomplish “delivery”, and registered post is often chosen for its convenience and low cost. Until now, a registered slip from the Post Office has generally been enough […]
YOUR SALE AGREEMENT
A purchaser or seller’s failure to comply with the many formal requirements relating to agreements for the sale of immovable property will render such agreements invalid! This is equally true when the agreement appears to be enforceable on the face of it. In other words, even when things seem certain, they can still go horribly […]
PAYING IN ADVANCE: THE PERILS
Be very careful indeed when a supplier requires you to make an advance payment, in part or full, for goods or services yet to be supplied. Firstly, you damage your negotiating position should disputes arise. The old adage “Possession is nine-tenths of the law” may not be literally true in the legal sense, but in […]
PREGNANT, UNMARRIED – AND DISMISSED
“There are 368 000 women between the ages of 15 and 21 with a baby under the age of two. 88% of them are single. (AMPS 2011)” – Eighty20’s Fact-a-Day at http://www.eighty20.co.za/blog/. Dismissal of an employee for any reason relating to her pregnancy is automatically unfair, and exposes the employer to a potential compensation award […]
DIRECTOR OR EMPLOYEE? APPLY THE “REALITY TEST”
Are directors employees? The question is an important one because our labour laws, particularly the Labour Relations Act, provide substantial protection only for “employees”. Now our courts have held that directors are to be regarded as employees “in appropriate circumstances”, and that the nature of an employment relationship should be determined primarily via three factors […]
TRUSTS – A HEALTH WARNING
Trusts can be extremely useful tools in estate and tax planning (and for protection of your assets from life’s misadventures), but they come with a health warning – assets held in a trust now belong to the trust, and no longer to you personally. A perfect example of how things can go wrong in this […]
CHILD MAINTENANCE – WHO IS LIABLE (AND WHO ISN’T)?
When you need financial help to support your child, who can be forced to contribute?A recent High Court judgment, which has received extensive media attention because of its negative impact on the right of grandparents to claim foster care grants, has shone a spotlight on the question of who has a legal “duty of support” […]