What happens if I owe SARS money before we do these VAT recalculations?
SARS will set-off your rebate against outstanding debt you owe. In other words, our claim will lower your liability to SARS. Owing money to SARS does not prevent us from assessing your transactions and raising rebates. You are however still liable to pay our invoice.
Which accounting programs can you work with?
Typically we work with Pastel and Sage, but we can work with whatever accounting package that you use.
Will SARS not have a problem with paying the rebate?
Generally no. They may ask to review the transactions we have raised for rebate, but we will handle this review process for you.
How much will this cost me?
This exercise costs you nothing. We only charge once the rebate has been calculated and submitted to SARS, and that rate is 50% of the rebate due to you. In other words, you only gain from this process, you don’t lose at all.
Do you replace my accountant/accounting team?
No. We are not here to replace any of your accounting and auditing functions. We simply review your transactions and raise rebates where they are due.
What savings are you going to get me?
We cannot give a definitive answer to that question as it depends on how many transactions are due for a rebate. Typically however, we save our clients thousands of Rands.
Who will be helping me? Who do I deal with?
We will assign a professional auditor to your business who will be introduced to you before we begin.
Is my financial and sensitive data safe?
Yes absolutely. We work to a strict code of ethics that govern all accounting practices and no information is divulged to anyone. We only engage with SARS on your behalf, if you need, once we have explained our findings to you.
What guarantees do I have?
We don’t place a specific guarantee on how much in rebates we are going to be able to get for you, however we do guarantee a thorough service where no stone is left unturned in reviewing whether you are eligible for rebates or not.
If there are savings, who deals with SARS?
We can engage with SARS on your behalf. To do this, all we will need is a ‘Special Power of Attorney’ which provides us with the authorisation to negotiate with SARS on your behalf.
Do I need backup documentation?
Once we have reviewed your transactions, we will need supporting documentation to substantiate any claims that we make from SARS.
Do I need to fill in any forms if you are negotiating with SARS for me?
All we will need from you is a ‘Special Power of Attorney’ which provides us with the authorisation to act on your behalf.
What other clients have you worked with?
We have worked with clients of all sizes, across all industries. In other words, if you have a business that charges and pays VAT to SARS, then we can help you.
What software do you use?
We use proprietary software that we have designed and developed in-house to analyse your transactions.
What software do I need to have in place for this?
All we need is your accounting software which can be Sage, Pastel or any other accounting software that you use.
Do you engage with my accountant or bookkeeper?
No, we do not need to do that unless we have a specific query. The process is initially automated and followed up by auditing specific transactions to confirm a rebate.
How difficult is it to get money back from SARS?
As long as you have the required supporting documentation for your transactions, we are able to ensure a rebate for you from SARS.
How long will it take to get money back from SARS?
This is difficult to determine with an exact timeframe as a rebate will depend on the complexity and quantity of transactions involved.
My auditors audit my books – why would they miss something?
Your auditors review a few transactions whereas we review transactions line-by-line. If you were to ask your auditors to review your transactions in the way that we do, it would cost you a large amount of money with no guarantee of savings, whereas our service doesn’t cost you anything at all (you only stand to gain).
Will this exercise take time and money?
No. Our auditors do all the work in-house. Someone only needs to show them where the documentation is filed and they work through the documents themselves. It takes just 20 minutes after the exercise to outline the results to you.
What happens if the claim is reviewed by SARS?
Our auditors will take care of any reviews on your behalf. In such an instance, all you need to do is provide us with the ‘Special Power of Attorney’ required to provide us with the authorisation to manage the review on your behalf. We only invoice you once you have received the claims benefit from SARS.
What detail do you cover in the VAT Recovery Report?
We list all the transactions for which no VAT was claimed, together with a link to the supporting documentation for your convenience.
How much does your VAT Savings Training cost?
We give training in specific areas of VAT as required by the client at an Hourly tariff of R750 per hour. The time needed to give the training will be determined by the complexity of the area in which you require training. Our VAT Recovery service includes training on the areas identified in our report free of charge.
How much do your Accounting Services cost?
Accounting Services are charged at an hourly tariff of R750 per hour. For a detailed quotation please contact us to assess the amount of work to be done.
What if I am behind on my VAT payments and afraid this exercise will only trigger an audit?
SARS can audit you at any time. Should SARS audit you before we do the VAT Review, SARS will add penalties and interest on the amounts due. Our claim can reduce your liability to SARS, thus saving you on penalties and interest.
Will someone be coming on site to do this?
Our auditors will come onsite to review the supporting documentation and compile our report. We do not disturb any of your staff, someone just needs to give us access to the documentation.
How often should I do this process to save money on VAT?
SARS allows you to claim Input VAT over 5 years. To reduce your risk, we repeat the VAT Review every 3 years.
