Thanks Dave.
I only realise now that I misread the original post! Did not see that you were referring to a loan to the member. In anyway, good information which I have never thought about before, so worth the discussion in my opinion.
Thanks Dave.
I only realise now that I misread the original post! Did not see that you were referring to a loan to the member. In anyway, good information which I have never thought about before, so worth the discussion in my opinion.
Either I don't fully understand what has happened or this setup sounds very strange. I can't quite figure out how he managed to draw out R2,5bar for what seems to be personal expenses. If he has done this, how did the cash get into his personal account in the first place? If its drawn from the main business account, then the bank account is your contra. But I'm obviously missing something.
I'm also under the impression that when a member has a loan from a cc for a period of more than one year, there is the risk that SARS will see that as effectively being a dividend payment. It may have something to do with whether interest is being paid or not. I'm with Dave on saying this is more for a tax expert, and my comments are largely hear say.
Ultimately if we forget the creative accounting and tax dodges, and call a spade a spade, it seems this member has really been paid a R2,5M extra salary and it should be treated as such. However I'm sure a decent tax consultant could wangle a better solution.
Am I right in saying that the member has effectively
Accounting:
It sounds like your balance sheet is not balancing and 2.5 million cash is missing. No contra account will be needed as it appears bank has already been adjusted. It sounds like the 2.5 million will be the balancing figure.
Tax:
Low Interest or Interest Free Loans
Paragraph 2(f) of the 7th Schedule prescribes that a taxable benefit shall be deemed to have been granted if a loan (other than a loan for purposes of paying any consideration by the employer in respect of a qualifying equity share, the payment of any stamp duties or uncertified securities tax payable in respect of that share or a loan in respect of which a subsidy is payable to the borrower by the employer), has been granted to the employee, whether by the employer, by any other person by arrangement with the employer or any associated institution in relation to the employer.
Value to be placed on the benefit in terms of Paragraph 11 of the 7th Schedule is:
The amount of interest that would have been paid on the loan during the tax year if any interest had been paid at the official rate, less the amount of interest (if any) actually incurred by the employee.
Where an employer provides loans financed out of his / her own funds to employees, the taxable benefit will be the amount of interest that the employees would have paid in respect of the tax year, if they were obliged to pay interest at the official interest rate.
No value shall be placed on the benefit derived in consequence of —
- The granting of a casual loan or loans if the aggregate of such loans do not exceed the sum of R3 000 at any time. The loans contemplated in this exclusion are short-term loans granted at irregular intervals to employees and not all loans merely because they are less than R3 000. A taxable benefit would arise if the loans were granted on a regular basis to all employees or a certain category of employees notwithstanding the fact that the loan does not exceed R3 000.
- The granting of a loan for the purpose of enabling the employee to further his / her own studies.
- If a financial institution such as a bank provides loans to its employees at the same rate as to the customers of the institution on the same conditions and under the same circumstances, no taxable benefit will accrue if such customer rate is below the official interest rate.
- If a low interest or interest free loan is provided to a director of a company or to a member of a close corporation, no taxable benefit will accrue if such loan is, for example, provided only as a result of the director’s share holding and not in respect of any services rendered. In such a case, the interest on the loan will not be deductible in the hands of the company or close corporation.
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