ARE YOU GETTING YOUR OWN BACK FROM SARS?

Although many businesses have reopened and have welcomed staff back to the office, some have downsized on office space as a cost saving measure in tough times and have allowed staff to continue to work remotely or follow a hybrid model that allows for them to split the work week between time at the office and remote working.

For employees this has been a struggle, especially those with young children at home, but for others it has been a huge saving on travel; especially with the everincreasing cost of fuel (which we can get into later).

The implication of working from home, using your space, resources and own stationery, means that you may be able to claim a rebate from SARS on your taxes. The requirements for this are laid out by SARS and have to be closely adhered to in order to qualify.

In order to qualify, the following requirements need to be met: • you need to have worked from home during the tax year for a minimum of six months; • the space that you use, needs to be a dedicated space, only for work; • you need a letter from your employer stating that you work remotely & the percentage of time that you work remotely; and • you need to show that you have the equipment required for remote work.

SARS may well request that you send photos of the area that you are claiming for and will ask for the size of the dedicated workspace and size of your house in square metres. Your claim is proportionate to the percentage of space that you use as a home office.

If you are compliant with the above, then comes the fun part – what can you claim for? • A portion of your bond interest • A percentage of your rent • Rates and taxes • Water and Electricity • Data charges • Cell phone charges (not applicable unless a minimum of 50% of your earnings are commission) • Landline charges (not applicable unless a minimum of 50% of your earnings are commission) • Insurance on the property and equipment • Your cleaners’ salary • Stationery and paper • Repairs to the home office including equipment and furniture

SARS may ask for proof of all or any of the items claimed for, so ensure that you have the invoices at hand should they require this.

If you are moderate in the space that you allot for your home office and have images and all invoices, SARS will most likely be happy with the claim, however if your work space is deemed to be unnecessarily large, SARS may adjust your claim.

There is no way to claim any food or beverages, so unfortunately your complimentary coffee at the office does not transfer now that you work from home!

This can be a boost to those working from home but assuming that as they pay rent, they do not qualify for the rebate; this is open to all people working from home full-time and those on a hybrid scheme.

The bottom line for remote workers is that you can benefit from SARS by working at home and you can save on transport costs too. The benefit to employers is the reduction in costs at the office, there is less wastage of office resources when staff work from home. As seen by many employers, staff can be trusted to work remotely and business continues. The biggest benefit for employers is requiring a smaller, more cost-effective office space. This alone is a saving that protected many companies during the past two years; couple the space saving with lower power, water and sanitation costs and less wastage of consumables in the office space, and you get a very tidy sum.

Hybrid or fully remote offices are successfully navigating this new workspace with some choosing to reduce the work-week down to four days offering employer and employee alike, a more balanced work-life ratio; why not reap the financial benefits that are available to you? �

Ho-ho-ho … It was good to re-connect with friends and colleagues from the Industry at the recent Office National Conference and Exhibition, themed Christmas in July. The Christmas tree and Santa’s Workshop may have contributed to the all-round good vibe, or maybe it was just that we are ready to get out and talk business again? SHOP-SA visited the event and bring you this photo-report on the event.

Office National team

Opening slide

Michael Levinsohn

Helen Smith (Kenzel), Sne Dladla (MC) and Brent Fleizcher (Kenzel) Programme