South African bloggers & tax: what you need to know

Yesterday I received a call from my bank to ask me to update a tax form. I’ve been blogging for 3 years and until this year have not taken monetizing or the business aspects of my blog very seriously.

Therefore, the thought of paying tax for earnings on my blog was the last thing on my mind. This made me do some research yesterday, on what a Blogger needs to know with regards to tax.

Tax for bloggers – Do bloggers need to pay tax?

The first question on my mind was do bloggers need to pay tax?

Most bloggers work on a trade exchange, which does not include a monetary exchange. So it’s not always easy for bloggers to work out the total amount their blog has earned over a year, nor to see if it was profitable.

But there are certainly bloggers who are earning from their blogs. These bloggers are charging for services, earning commissions from affiliates and running paid ads on their blogs.

For these bloggers, the very simple answer is: Yes, you do need to pay tax if you earn within the taxable bracket.

How much do you need to earn to pay tax?

According to SARS and the South African tax laws, anyone who earns more than 500 000 after tax is eligible to pay tax on their earnings.

When are you exempt from paying tax?

If you earn less than 500 000 a year before tax and meet the following criteria you are exempt from paying tax.

The following criteria will also be taken into consideration:

  • You only receive employment income from one employer for the full tax year;
  • You have no other form of income, such as car allowance, business income, rental income, taxable interest or income from another job.
  • You don’t have any additional allowable tax related deductions to claim, such as medical expenses, retirement annuity contributions, and travel expenses.

It’s important to note that making false declarations with regards to your income is fraud and has serious implications.

What if you need help to figure it out?

Before your blog is subjected to a Sales tax audit you can save yourself the time of having to find the paperwork for an auditor, answer an auditor’s questions or negotiate a time-consuming audit with the following tips….

1. Register for tax at your local SARS office

2. Get detailed statements for your finances for the financial year. It’s advisable, as soon as you start earning from your blog to keep financial records.

3. Learn what is tax-deductible. Things like business travel, stationery and phone calls are all tax-deductible.

4. As a blogger you have the benefit of earning in other currencies, it’s best to consult a tax practitioner with regards to the tax laws on your international earnings.

Register for tax –

As a blogger, your time is costly and running your blog means you have many aspects of a business to consider so registering for tax is an easy oversite.

But by ignoring this easy process you may, as work becomes more regular find yourself needing to pay tax with a backlog of admin, unpaid tax and consequences to navigate through.

How to register

Registration for tax will need to be done in person at your local SARS office. This often involves a long wait and you will need to take the following with you…

  • Bank statement
  • ID
  • Proof of address

In conclusion

Paying taxes is compulsory for all businesses and as your tax status is closely related to your commercial status it is always best to pay your taxes. Keeping up to date will ensure you don’t have any issues in the future, when you’d like to purchase a house, immigrate, etc.

It’s a good idea to calculate how much you should be paying to SARS from each amount of money you bring in, and keeping it aside to pay at the end of tax season. We do suggest finding a professional if it all seems too much to do on your own.

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