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Thread: Bookkeeping Records Compliance

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    Bookkeeping Records Compliance

    Hi - Whilst I know it is advisable to keep all accounts related records for 7 years, please could you confirm what the SARS compliant format for record keeping is. I have always understood that a hardcopy file is required for all supporting documentation. What is SARS' view of electronic format records only?

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    Diamond Member Mike C's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TriciaG View Post
    Hi - Whilst I know it is advisable to keep all accounts related records for 7 years, please could you confirm what the SARS compliant format for record keeping is. I have always understood that a hardcopy file is required for all supporting documentation. What is SARS' view of electronic format records only?
    Hi TriciaG,

    The following was taken from the SARS website:

    Records must be kept -

    in their original form;
    in the form, including electronic, prescribed by the Commissioner by public notice; or
    in the case of a request by a specific taxpayer to retain records or documents in a different but acceptable form, the form authorised by a senior SARS official;
    in an orderly fashion;
    in a safe place; and
    open for inspection, audit or investigation by SARS.

    https://www.sars.gov.za/ClientSegmen...s/default.aspx

    The recommended guidelines for how long you keep records are as follows:

    1. Statutory information – indefinite
    2. AFS – 15 years
    3. Books of account and supporting schedules – 15 years
    4. Asset registers - 15 years
    5. Tax returns (after date of submission) – 5 years
    6. Staff personnel records (after employment ceased) – 3 years
    7. Salary and wage registers – 5 years
    8. Paid cheques – 6 years
    9. Invoices/bank statements/stock sheets/Vat records/vouchers and general correspondence – 5 years
    No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop "The Lion and the Mouse"

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    Diamond Member Mike C's Avatar
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    12.2. The ECT Act and the secondary legislation

    The Electronic Record Keeping Rules requires that records be kept in compliance with section 14 of the ECT Act.

    Extract – Section 14 of the ECT Act


    (1) Where a law requires information to be presented or retained in its original form, that requirement is met by a data message if―
    (a) the integrity of the information from the time when it was first generated in its final form as a data message or otherwise has passed assessment in terms of
    subsection (2); and
    (b) that information is capable of being displayed or produced to the person to whom it is to be presented.

    (2) For the purposes of subsection I(a), the integrity must be assessed―
    (a) by considering whether the information has remained complete and unaltered, except for the addition of any endorsement and any change which arises in the normal course of communication, storage and display;
    (b) in the light of the purpose for which the information was generated; and
    (c) having regard to all other relevant circumstances.

    And then I came across this in another document from sars:

    (2) SARS may at any time require from a ‘registered user’ or an ‘electronic communicator’ the production of an original document required to be produced under the provisions of a tax Act.
    No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop "The Lion and the Mouse"

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    Hi Mike
    Thanks so much for the detailed response - it is very helpful. So, if I understand this correctly, SARS may at any time request "the production of an original document" which does not necessarily mean a printed paper copy of anything that was originally emailed?

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    Diamond Member Mike C's Avatar
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    I would be inclined to go with that. Particularly in this age when more and more documentation is being stored and transmitted electronically.
    No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop "The Lion and the Mouse"

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    Diamond Member Blurock's Avatar
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    I see that ever more people use WhatsApp to communicate and send documents. Discovery bank (which is not a bank in my opinion) never send statements, but only sends a message that your statement is available for download (incomplete, without daily balances).

    My view is that this is pure laziness. A formal business and bodies corporate should communicate more formally via email with attachments, which can be saved in PDF or other formats. Social media is for social, not formal communication.
    Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...

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