Some companies are really feeling the strain of the struggling economy. In most cases, when companies are struggling, they tend to pay other expenses like rent and salaries before paying SARS, but SARS is relentless in their pursuit of monies owed to them.

So what do you do when you’re in trouble with SARS?

There are a medley of options available to you. You can negotiate an instalment agreement or, even better, a compromise. A compromise is simply a write-off of a large portion of the debt you owe SARS, if you’re willing to make a large lump-sum payment now.

Thinking of avoiding SARS? Don’t entertain that idea for too long – SARS even have the power to remove money from your bank account/s directly. Sure, there are steps they need to follow before they can do this, but they will get it right and you’ll be left out of pocket, and in huge trouble.

So how would one go about writing-off (compromising) their tax debt? There are five factors that SARS takes into consideration when your compromise is submitted:

1. The amount of tax debt owed;
2. How long the tax debt has been outstanding for;
3. The effort they (SARS) have already gone through to collect that tax debt e.g. effort to locate/trace you;
4. The probable cost involved in trying to collect the remainder of the tax debt owed versus the actual return from those collection attempts;
5. Your financial position, including assets, liabilities, cash flow and income streams.

Remember, SARS will only write-off your tax debt if it doesn’t make financial sense for them to chase you for it. If their efforts will far exceed their potential gain, then they are more likely to negotiate a settlement with you.

You can submit your application directly to SARS, or you can let the professionals handle it.

We guarantee the best possible outcome for you and your business, and we proudly boast a 100% success rate. Contact us today for a free consultation.