What can I claim?
It depends on how you earn: salary, commission or your own business.
SARS lets you deduct costs you pay to earn your income, as long as they aren't private or capital in nature (s11(a) and s23 of the Income Tax Act). How much of that you can use depends on how you earn.
Salaried employees
Very little. If most of your pay is a salary, you can't deduct work expenses against it (s23(m)). You can still claim retirement fund contributions, medical credits, donations with an s18A certificate, and a home office if you work mainly from home.
Commission earners
If more than half your pay is commission, you can deduct the costs of earning it: entertainment of clients, travel, phone and data, a home office, and so on. Your employer's IRP5 shows the split.
Sole proprietors and freelancers
You can deduct business costs against business income, as long as you have the slip or invoice and can show what it was for.
Never deductible
- Personal meals, clothes and groceries
- Traffic fines
- Travel between home and your normal workplace
- The capital part of a bond or car payment
Mark a payment as business only if you could explain it to SARS. OneFile Money asks who and why so that explanation is written down when you still remember it.