In many instances trustees abdicate their responsibilities to their accountants or tax practitioners, leaving them to manage the trust’s tax affairs. A number of accountants/tax practitioners not specialising in trusts treat them similarly to legal entities such as companies, ignoring their unique tax rules. That may get their clients (and even themselves) into trouble.
With trustees being the representative taxpayers of trusts, they cannot claim ignorance for incorrect or even fraudulent tax returns submitted to Sars. It will be worth their while to ensure the trust’s income and capital gains are correctly treated for tax purposes.
Trust expert Phia van der Spuy provides a quick checklist for trustees.
Read here.
Phia van der Spuy is a chartered accountant with a master’s degree in tax and a registered Fiduciary Practitioner of South Africa®, a chartered tax adviser, a trust and estate practitioner (TEP) and the founder of Trusteeze®, the provider of a digital trust solution.