Latest News - Fenns Chartered Accountants and Auditors

At Fenns, we keep up with the latest developments in the accounting world, and now you can too. Stay informed with our monthly blog posts and newsletters, featuring insights, updates, and industry news.

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Good to know, SARS

Dispute with SARS? Here are the New Rules…

At some point over the many years of submitting returns and paying taxes, individual and corporate taxpayers will have grounds to dispute an assessment or decision from SARS. Fortunately, there are clear dispute resolution rules that guide both the taxpayer and SARS in resolving these disputes. Earlier this year, some changes were made to SARS’ dispute resolution rules, and in this article we briefly summarise the most important changes and provide reminders of crucial issues that remain unchanged.

Business, Good to know

The Hidden Costs of Starting a Business

You have had your bright idea, saved up for months, and finally quit your 9-to-5 to run your own business. You have worked out the finances carefully but it’s still possible you have missed something. Starting a business can be surprisingly expensive, and much of this is down to a variety of hidden expenses. Failure to plan for these unknown costs can put a severe dent in the growth trajectory of your company. Here are the nine most common costs that entrepreneurs don’t plan for.

Good to know, SARS

SARS Admin Penalties: What Taxpayers Can Do

SARS has imposed administrative non-compliance penalties on hundreds of thousands of taxpayers this year, following recent changes to the admin penalty rules. Once-off and especially recurring penalties quickly add up to a significant tax debt, and also lead to a non-compliant tax status and tax refunds being withheld. Here's what to do if you already have accumulated an admin penalty tax debt and how to avoid these admin penalties going forward.

General, Good to know

Employee Incentives That Really Work for Small Businesses

Happy and industrious employees are a huge step toward business success. In a small business, each and every employee needs to be performing to their best ability if the company hopes to succeed. Employee incentives are therefore a great tool for both keeping employees happy and building a successful business. The challenge, however, is that the incentives a small company can offer would not traditionally be as large as those offered by big corporations. So how can small businesses successfully keep their employees feeling appreciated within budget? Here are 5 ideas that really work.

Good to know

The Risky New Trust Landscape – What Trustees Need to do Now

Recent legal and tax amendments have considerably altered the trust landscape, placing onerous new duties on the shoulders of all trustees in South Africa, while also exposing them to significant risk, with penalties for non-compliance including substantial fines of up to R10 million or imprisonment for up to 5 years, and some of the impossible deadlines already passed! In this article, discover the new duties imposed on trustees and why professional assistance is essential to ensure compliance.

Good to know

Tips for Pacing Business Growth for Sustainability

Every entrepreneur that starts a business does so hoping it will grow into a working concern. Despite this, many go into the process of building those businesses blindly, unaware that the pace of growth and the way it is handled is a critical element of making a business work in the long run. If a business grows too slowly, it may run out of financing, and if it grows too quickly, it may collapse due to an inability to meet requirements and client dissatisfaction. Here’s our guide on how to grow your business sustainably.

General, News

Why the Four-Day Working Week Just Might Happen

Back when the industrial revolution first started Sunday was the only day off, given over to worship and contemplation. It wasn’t until 1908 that companies first began enacting a five-day work week, and only the great depression made it the standard. Now decades later we are finally contemplating turning another workday into an even longer weekend, in fact it has been trialled in a number of places around the world. The results have been an unexpected phenomenon. Here is why the four-day work week is getting closer to reality.

General, Good to know

Don’t Fall Prey to the Most Common Cybercrimes!

Cybercrimes, including phishing and online scams, are not only the biggest current threat in Africa, according to Interpol, they are also the type of crime most likely to increase in the next three to five years. In this article, we share the prominent cyberthreats identified by Interpol - with Business Email Compromise (BEC) still top of the list, explain what these cybercrimes entail, and also offer some excellent tips from expert sources to help you, your business and your employees remain safe from these growing threats to businesses and individuals.

Business, General

Quiet Quitting and How to Prevent It

2022 saw a new term rapidly enter the lexicon of HR managers everywhere, “quiet quitting”. The term refers to a trend where, instead of formally resigning, workers are coming to work but only just meeting the absolute minimum requirements to keep their jobs. The trend has inspired a number of conversations around the importance of work/life balance compared with the needs of an effective business.

SARS, Tax

Corporate Taxpayers: Hello Tougher SARS Verifications

While SARS’ announcement of the removal of the supplementary declaration for Corporate Income Tax (CIT) for companies or close corporations – the IT14SD form - appears to indicate less paperwork, cost and time when a company is selected for CIT verification, the reality is that it will result in greater scrutiny during the verification process.

SARS, Tax

Common Tax-Related Criminal Offences, and How to Avoid Them…

Most tax criminal offences are not premeditated acts of tax evasion, but ordinary events that now - in terms of the Tax Administration Act - expose individuals and businesses to the possibility of committing offences that carry harsh penalties, including fines, imprisonment, and other implications for those convicted.