Public Officer & Tax Representative Appointment – What SARS expects.
A Company is required by the Companies Act and Income Tax Act to appoint a Public Officer within 30 days of incorporation. The public officer represents the company for all tax related matters, and is therefore seen as the tax representative for SARS’ purposes.
All actions carried out by the public officer in their capacity is seen to have been carried out by the company. Failure to appoint a tax representative can result in the Commissioner designating a director, member or company secretary as to act as the tax representative.
Only natural persons resident in South Africa can qualify as to act as the public officer of an entity.
A Company should be aware of the duties imposed on the public officer. The public officer should have the authority to properly carry out their duties.
The public officer is responsible for attending to the tax affairs of a company, and is deemed to be answerable for the numerous activities and duties which are required to be performed by the company, including the following:
- the submission of annual and provisional tax returns;
- registration as a taxpayer and registration as an employer;
- submission of monthly employee’s tax declarations and annual employer reconciliation returns;
- notification of address changes and acceptance of notices served against the company.
The Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962 provides that no appointment of a public officer shall be deemed to have been made until notice thereof specifying the name of the public officer and an address for service or delivery of notices and documents has been given to the Commissioner.
Penalties for no appointment of a Public Officer? There are two penalties that will be incurred:
- Any company which defaults in appointing a public officer or any other related duties required in terms of the Act, incurs a penalty not exceeding R25 for every day during which the default continues.
- Under the new administrative penalty provisions (which came into effect on 1 January 2009), failure to appoint a public officer would also qualify as non-compliance.
SARS may impose administrative penalties on non-compliance in the following circumstances:
- Failure to appoint a public officer; and
- Failure to notify the SARS of a change of public officer.
The penalty can be between R250 and R16000 based on the taxable income of the entity.
A company is obliged to notify the Commissioner of the change in public officer within fourteen days of such change taking effect.
It is therefore imperative that Companies appoint a public officer in the prescribed period to avoid penalties for non-compliance.
SARS has up to 21 business days to process the appointment of a public officer.
Contact Zeelie Professional Accountants SA today to assist with the appointment of your company’s public officer/tax representative.
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