Temp teaching for 6 months, must she pay tax?

Cape Town - Tax filing season for the period March 1 2014 to February 2015 has just kicked off and filing returns can sometimes be a daunting task.

Fin24, in collaboration with the SA Institute of Tax Professionals (SAIT), will as far as possible answer users' tax questions to help make this process as seamless as possible.

A Fin24 user wants to know whether his spouse is eligible to pay tax. He writes:

My wife was a temporary teacher for six months from July to December 2014.

She did not have a medical aid or any other form of extra income and did not earn a salary over R350 000 per year.

Are you advising that she should not fill her tax returns for 2014 to 2015?

Piet Nel, SA Institute of Tax Professionals responds:

In terms of the official notice a natural person is not required to furnish a return for the 2015 year of assessment if the gross income of that person consisted solely of gross income described in one or more of the following subparagraphs:

(a) remuneration, other than an allowance or advance, paid or payable from one single source, which does not exceed R350 000 and employees' tax has been deducted or withheld in terms of the deduction tables prescribed by the Commissioner;

(b) interest from a source in the Republic not exceeding -

(i) R23 800 in the case of a natural person below the age of 65 years; or

(ii) R34 500 in the case of a natural person aged 65 years or older; and

(c) dividends and the natural person was a non-resident during the 2015 year of assessment.  

If the total value of any funds in foreign currency or owned any assets outside the RSA didn’t exceed R200 000 at any stage during the 2015 year of assessment and based on the facts provided she would not need to file a return of income for 2015.  

READ: Tips to be ready for the tax season

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