Category: Finance
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Save for your golden years
Saving for retirement can prove to be a very complex task, however, this does not have to be the case. Many people are not making the necessary provisions for retirement. When you start a new job or enter the workforce for the first time, the last thing you think about is saving for retirement, however,…
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What are bitcoins?
1.1 Background to Bitcoin Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin. These are some of the most prominent cryptocurrencies on the market today. Bitcoin is by far the best-known cryptocurrency due to the substantial increase in the price that was experienced in the past couple of years. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency – a digital asset designed to work…
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IFRS vs IFRS for SMEs
The majority of financial statements in South Africa are arguably compiled by implementing the International Financial Reporting Standards for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs) as a financial reporting framework. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published IFRS for SMEs during July 2009. The standard was introduced in order to reduce complexities and the…
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Efficient and cost-effective audits
An efficient audit is one that reduces the audit risk to the targeted level, ensures that there are no errors contained in the financial statements while completed on time and within the budget. To ensure an efficient and cost-effective audit, we must understand the roles and responsibilities of both the client, or more specifically, the…
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Requests for suspension of payment from SARS
Since its introduction, the “pay now, argue later” rule relating to disputed amounts of tax has been and remains to be the subject of much controversy, and rightfully so. The basic premise is that even though you disagree with an amount of tax, once you have been assessed by SARS, the amount becomes due and…
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Fixed and reimbursive travel allowances
When determining the best remuneration package for travelling employees, South African employers and employees are continuously considering the benefits between a travel allowance, a reimbursive travel allowance or both. For this purpose, the employees’ tax (“PAYE’’) and income tax consequences of these two allowances are set out in more detail below. A travel allowance is…
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Changes to bad debt allowance
Most South African businesses are at some point in time exposed to credit risk in the form of bad debts. Although taxpayers would undoubtedly prefer to recover the debts, the Income Tax Act[1] provides for some relief in cases where debts have become bad, or doubtful. Not only does section 11(a) provide for the deduction…
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Mandatory Rotation of Auditors
Over the past few years the audit industry has been under significant scrutiny where the independence of auditors has been questioned. In response to this and to further drive auditor independence, the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) issued a rule prescribing that auditors of public interest entities (PIEs) in South Africa must comply with…
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Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency and blockchain has been the hot topic in the media the past year. It is a concept that few truly understand, and could change the future for everyone in a major way. But what is cryptocurrency and blockchain? Per the online dictionary: A cryptocurrency is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used…