On June 11, QASA hosted a Tax and Disability webinar with qualified chartered accountant and tax practitioner Lammert Stavast who shared his insights into claiming disability-related tax rebates. There were many top tips on how best to claim and how to prepare for the tax season. Here are some of the top tips:
Who can claim
Tax rebates can be claimed by individuals who pay tax on their income (a salary, pension or small business). The person claiming the disability tax rebates should also be the person who paid the expense. This can either be the person with a disability (if the person has an income and pays tax) or their caregivers.
Limits on claims
On each expense, you can claim roughly 33 percent; however, the total can’t exceed the amount of tax paid for the year. As an example, if you only pay R10 000 tax per year, but your total disability-related expenses was more, you will only be able to claim up to the R10 000.
For this reason, it is recommended to either split expenses between caregivers (both parents of a child with a disability for example), or have expenses roll over to the next year where possible.
ITRD form
To qualify for disability-related tax rebates, a person with a disability needs to have an ITRD form completed by a medical practitioner. While the form is valid for 10 years (if you have a permanent disability), you might be asked to resubmit the form each year.
Every year, a different SARS official will review your taxes and might need you to resubmit, so be sure to keep your form handy!
Claiming for caregiver
If a full-time caregiver is required, many of their expenses qualify including training, travel and accommodation for the training, and live-in expenses like water and electricity (if applicable).
If your domestic worker assist with caregiver duties, it is very important to have a contract in plays detailing the number of hours a week (or month) they assist with caregiving. SARS doesn’t allow you to claim for domestic duties, so, only the caregiving hours will count for rebates.
Detailed record
The most important part of claiming is keeping detailed record so that you are able to substantiate any expense. Keep every invoice or slip. Keep record and put the necessary contracts in place. If a slip is missing, you can try and get your transaction history through your membership account.
For more top tips, watch the full webinar here:
