News Category: Government

Five things you need to do after the CIPC Hack

FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO DO AFTER THE CIPC HACK

The Internet is a worldwide platform for sharing information. It is a community of common interests. No country is immune to such global challenges as cybercrime, hacking, and invasion of privacy

- Lu Wei, the head of the General Office of the Central Leading Group for Internet Security and Informatization from August 2013 to June 2016

On the 1st of March 2024, South Africa’s official regulatory body for registering companies, co-operatives, and intellectual property rights (including trademarks, patents, designs and copyrights), the CIPC, put a notice on its website about a hacking incident on Thursday, the 29th of February 2024.  Since then, additional information has come to light, which indicates this may be worse than the agency believes. Here are the five things you need to do after the CIPC hack.

On the 1st of March 2024, the CIPC admitted it had been hacked. The CIPC said in a statement that, “Our ICT technicians were alerted, due to extensive firewall and data protection systems in place at the CIPC, to a possible security compromise and as a result, certain CIPC systems were shut down immediately to mitigate any possible damage.” While they referred to the incident as “an attempt” to hack their systems they also added, “Unfortunately, certain personal information of our clients and CIPC employees was unlawfully accessed and exposed.”

A few days later MyBroadband.co.za said they had been contacted by the hackers who allegedly proved they had access to the site since 2021 and the CIPC could be understating the damage done. Whether the claims made to MyBroadband are accurate or not, the possibility this hack has leaked private information from many or all of South Africa’s registered businesses and presumably given outside access to company registrations which potentially allows the hackers to make alterations to core business areas. Together with a long-standing issue at SARS that periodically sees clients receiving an email or SMS stating, “unauthorised changes were made to your personal details on eFiling”, it is clear that South African businesses need to be aware of the risks of online attacks at key government organisations and more importantly, know what to do about them.

HERE ARE THE MAIN CONCERNS

Private information leaked
According to reports, the hackers may have gained access to the private credit card information used to make payments to the CIPC. MyBroadband quotes the alleged hackers as saying the CIPC was “processing and storing credit cards in the clear.” While most banks require access to an app as verification, the exposure of CVVs and expiry dates of cards is a risky proposition. When combined with other information stored on the site, such as the names, addresses and signatures of directors there is a real risk that company clients and contacts may be open to being scammed through fake profiles or other contacts generated by malicious third parties.

Access to Company registrations
If, as is alleged, hackers have gained unfettered access to the company registrations section and the login details for multiple clients, companies risk potential changes in their core information. Directors can be changed, addresses altered and critically, key documentation can be downloaded.  The latter is of great concern as these documents could allow a fraudster to open bank accounts in a company’s name. After that it becomes simple to contact clients saying that bank account details have changed, and even offer them the proof that they are speaking to legitimate company representatives. From there money could easily be siphoned into these phoney accounts and it may take weeks or even months to uncover.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

With every company vulnerable it’s critical to take a number of steps immediately to mitigate the risk and potential damage.

01

CHECK BANK ACCOUNTS AND CARDS

Monitor your bank account and card transactions even more closely than before for any signs of suspicious activity. If any unusual activity does occur, report the incident to the bank immediately and consider cancelling any bank cards that may have been exposed on the CIPC website and ordering new ones.

02

WARN YOUR CLIENTS

You may want to consider adding a warning to emails and client correspondence that asks them to treat any notices supposedly from your business of changes to bank account or personal details with caution due to the CIPC hack and SARS login leaks. The warning should carry the caveat that should they receive any bank detail change correspondence they should check with you directly before making alterations to payments.  

03

CHANGE USERNAMES AND PASSWORDS

Change all login details. Assume your current passwords have been compromised and check whether you have used them on other sites as well. Even if this is not the case, it’s wise to change all your important passwords periodically, particularly those for bank accounts or other financial institutions.

04

WARN YOUR EMPLOYEES

Alert all employees that any emails, calls or other communication from banks, insurers or fraud divisions should be treated as suspect. Instruct your employees to authenticate communications directly with those departments immediately (using contact details they know to be genuine) rather than give away any information to an unverified person. This is good practice anyway in light of surging cyberfraud generally, but the CIPC hack makes it essential.

05

REMAIN VIGILANT

We as your accountants are happy to help advise you on how to monitor the credit bureaus and banks to track any illegal accounts, which may be opened in your name and discover suspicious changes in the invoicing and payments. A client who usually pays regularly suddenly stopping is now cause for an immediate follow-up.

Don’t stop being cautious.

These sorts of hacks can often come back to haunt a company months after they happen. Assume you will need to be careful for at least a year as the hackers work their way through their haul and try to make the most of it.

Beneficial Ownership Registers – Now Mandatory with CIPC Annual Returns

Beneficial Ownership Registers - Now Mandatory with CIPC Annual Returns

“It is imperative that ALL companies and close corporations ensure compliance with the beneficial ownership filing requirements, to ensure good corporate governance and business continuity..”

- CIPC

It’s been a year since 24 May 2023 when company directors and members of close corporations became obliged to lodge a Beneficial Ownership Register plus supporting documents with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) – which also needs to be maintained, updated timeously and confirmed annually. Since all entities should have lodged this register by 24 May 2024 – a year later – it has now become mandatory to file beneficial ownership information before the annual returns can be submitted. Non-compliance with the beneficial ownership requirements has consequences, as does failing to submit the annual return timeously.

Following changes to the Companies Act on 24 May 2023, company directors and members of close corporations are obliged to lodge and maintain a detailed Beneficial Ownership (BO) Register, along with a list of supporting documents with the CIPC (Companies and Intellectual Property Commission). This register and documents must also be kept up to date within tight timelines and verified annually.             

Pre-existing companies with their anniversary date after the promulgation of the amended Companies Regulations were required to file their beneficial ownership information with their annual returns. Registers for new companies and amendments must be lodged within 10 days. This means that all entities in CIPC’s register must have filed their beneficial ownership information by 24 May 2024 – one year since it became mandatory. The Commission, citing a huge number of non-compliant entities that are yet to file their beneficial ownership and/or securities register information, is enforcing compliance by implementing more serious consequences.

CONSEQUENCES OF NON-COMPLIANCE

  • A new “hard-stop functionality” has been implemented by the Commission. That will prevent any non-compliant entities from filing their annual returns, which brings its own consequences.
  1. The late filing of annual returns will incur penalties.
  2. Banks, service providers or customers often require businesses to have up-to-date annual returns before engaging in business.
  • The Commission will take further and necessary enforcement actions with regards to entities which continue to be non-compliant, such as:
  1. investigation into the administration and governance processes of non-compliant business,
  2. issuing of compliance notices; and/or
  3. referral for deregistration and even final deregistration due to non-compliance.
  • It is also a criminal offence to submit false or incorrect information to the CIPC.

WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR COMPLIANCE

  • Identify the beneficial owners of a company – these are individuals/natural persons who, directly or indirectly, ultimately own 5% or more of the company, or exercise effective control of that particular company.            

  • For each beneficial owner identified, collect the following:  
  1. full names, date of birth, correctly certified copy of ID or passport;
  2. business or residential and postal address;
  3. email address;
  4. confirmation as to the participation and extent of the beneficial interest;
  5. supporting documents.
  • Collate the information in a register, which must be filed with CIPC, and upload the supporting documents to CIPC’s website.      

  • Keep the register up to date, with changes filed with CIPC as soon as practically possible, but no later than 10 business days after notification.          

  • An updated register must also be submitted with the annual returns each year.

  • The information must be treated as confidential and adequate precautions must be taken to prevent theft, loss, damage, destruction and falsification. 

TOP TIP FOR HASSLE-FREE COMPLIANCE

Our assistance will prove invaluable in ensuring your business remains compliant with both CIPC’s beneficial ownership requirements and annual return requirements, particularly following the hacking of the CIPC website and the problems and delays that followed. We can also guide you through the complexities of CIPC compliance, manage the tedious processes and take care of the ongoing maintenance requirements, thereby eliminating your risk of non-compliance, which constitutes an offence and can incur administrative penalties.   

The Five Skills Your Business Needs to Cultivate in 2024

THE 5 SKILLS YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TO CULTIVATE IN 2024

“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.”

- Hendry Ford (Founder - Ford Motor Company)

If you are like the vast majority of companies out there, you are neglecting employee training and it’s going to cost your business. This is the warning coming out of the Harvard Business review which reported that one of the main reasons top talent leaves an organisation is that they feel their career development is not being supported.  In 2024, there is no excuse for this as there are dozens of new skills that employees need to be trained in for the true success of your business. Here are the most important.

NEGLECTING STAFF TRAINING COSTS BUSINESSES

In a world where everything seems more expensive today than it was yesterday training and advancement of staff can seem of lesser importance. As an increasing number of studies show, however, this could not be further from the truth. A lack of training at businesses can lead to decreasing quality of service, high employee churn rates, and more recently, an inability to match more technologically savvy competitors in the market.  In 2024, speak to your accountant to budget for the advancement of your employees and the development of skills within your organisation. Businesses who fail to bring these skills on board, whether through training or additional hires, are guaranteeing tough times ahead.

01

AI PROMPTING


Like Excel in the 2000s this is the one skill every office employee will need to have over the coming years. At the moment, prompt engineers are commanding enormous salaries for their understanding of just which commands are genuinely helpful when dealing with AI. It’s all very well having the latest technology, but if you are unable to unlock its potential then you are wasting the investment and falling behind every day.

02

CREATIVE COMMUNICATION


Ironically, in an era where AI is capable of producing a facsimile of good writing in a matter of minutes, genuine heartfelt, creative and original communication is going to become even more critical. Ensuring you have employees who are capable of identifying communication opportunities, and actively translating the insights of AI into easily understood, actionable and motivational text will be the difference in a world littered with paint-by-numbers ChatGPT blog posts and internal emails.

03

CYBER SECURITY

As the world moves increasingly digital and automated it also becomes more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Online threats can cripple companies and put them out of commission for weeks if not months, and lost information can be very hard to retrieve. While it is imperative that your company has experts employed who understand the threats, each and every employee should also be trained in the basics and potential loopholes that criminals will exploit. Failing to train in this area will no doubt lead to far greater costs down the line.

04

PEOPLE MANAGEMENT

Managing a team requires a completely different set of skills to just ten years ago. With most jobs incorporating at least a percentage of remote work, and freelancers becoming an integral part of projects, managers need to be up to date on a number of new communication and management apps and solutions. Additionally, they need to know how to motivate and communicate effectively online and develop teams from people located around the world.

05

CUSTOMER SERVICE

In the modern era of online reviews and social media, customer service has never been more important. Now, one bad experience doesn’t disappear, but instead lives with a company online forever. As a result, it’s critical that staff be trained in how to keep customers happy, how to handle a disgruntled customer and, when the odd bad reviews inevitably come in, how to turn them around to the company’s advantage.

Things to Look for When Buying a Small Business

things to look for when buying a small business

“It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price, than a fair company at a wonderful price.”

- Warren Buffett (Investor, Businessman, Philanthropist)

On the surface buying into a small business can seem easy. There aren’t a lot of laws to negotiate, and payment can often be done in a single cash-based transaction. However, there are a lot of hidden pitfalls that could make this one of the worst decisions of a person’s life.  This is why investment experts recommend doing “due dilligence” before you transfer all of your money. Here are the most important things to look for when buying a small business.

essential due diligence tips revealed

When buying a small business there are a number of things that need to be checked before pulling the trigger and signing the contract. Doing proper due diligence will ensure you don’t invest hard earned 
money on a lemon. Here are the five most important things to look out for.

  • Finances 
    Carefully examining the finances of the company is vital and bringing an expert on board to do it for you will ensure you don’t miss those hidden details that could be signs of a faltering company. Let us examine your past financial statements and tax returns for you to discover trends and establish whether sales are on the way up or down. We will also look closely at the assets and liabilities of your company, review the status of any inventory, equipment, and physical assets and analyse your likely costing for maintenance, necessary upgrades and stock issues. This is all essential as buying a company and then finding yourself in an immediate cash flow crisis is the worst possible start to your hopeful new venture. 
  • Intellectual Property
    Does the company you are buying depend on one invention or many? If so, have those inventions been patented, copyrighted or trademarked? And just who owns those things? It’s no good buying a business only to find you now owe the former owners for the rights to using their creations.

  • Customer opinions
    The first step is to examine the internet for reviews. Perhaps the previous owners have been rude and undermined any goodwill that should have arisen from an otherwise excellent concept? Maybe the much-vaunted invention isn’t quite as good as expected?  Speak to key customers and ask them their opinion on a takeover. Does it bother them or will they stay on with the company when it has been sold? Does the goodwill of the business rest with the product and the business itself or is it personal to the current owners?

  • Employees 
    Where possible conduct employee interviews to fully understand what they think of the company, how they believe it can be improved and whether they are planning on staying on if there is a new owner. The employees may be able to spot gaps or weaknesses you may not easily see, but more importantly may also reveal undiscovered areas for expansion. A full employee analysis will, with the help of your accountant, also help you determine just where there are gaps that need to be filled, what training still needs to be done, and most importantly, what all of that will cost.

  • Existing contracts
    Take a look at any long-term existing contracts. Anything from a rental agreement to a customer service contract could reveal problems. Are there any burdensome terms and conditions that you will be locked into? Is there a customer who has to be serviced at an impossible rate, or a landlord who is expecting ten years of rent before you can move your headquarters? What are the costs of exiting these contracts, and can you afford them if necessary?

Budget 2024: Your Tax Tables and Tax Calculator

Budget 2024: Your Tax Tables and Tax Calculator



Budget 2024: Personal Tax Hike, 'Sin' Tax Increase, and Global Corporate Tax Proposal Unveiled by SARS

Budget 2024 effectively brought an increase in personal income tax by not adjusting the tables for tax rates, rebates and medical tax credits, while also implementing substantial increases in ‘sin’ taxes and introducing a proposed global tax on multinational companies.  This selection of official SARS Tax Tables and other useful resources will help clarify your tax position for the new tax year. Then follow the link to Fin 24’s Budget Calculator (just follow the four-step process) to perform your own calculation.

INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS - TAX TABLES UNCHANGED

INDIVIDUAL & SPECIAL TRUST TAXES – 2025

Taxable Income (R) 

Rate of Tax (R)

1 – 237 100 

18% of taxable income

237 101 – 370 500

42 678 + 26% of taxable income above 237 100

370 501 – 512 800

77 362 + 31% of taxable income above 370 500

512 801 – 673 000

121 475 + 36% of taxable income above 512 800

673 001 – 857 900

179 147 + 39% of taxable income above 673 000

857 901 – 1 817 000

251 258 + 41% of taxable income above 857 900

1 817 001 and above

644 489 + 45% of taxable income above 1 817 000

 Source:  SARS

INDIVIDUAL TAX REBATES – 2025 

Type

2025

Primary

R17 235   

Secondary (65 and older)

R9 444

Tertiary (75 and older)

R3 145

 Source:  SARS

INDIVIDUAL TAX THRESHOLDS – 2025 

Age

2025

Under 65

R95 750

65 and older

R148 217

75 and older

R165 689

 Source:  SARS

BUSINESSES - CORPORATE TAX RATES - EXTENDED

CORPORATE TAXES

Type

Taxable Income (R) / Taxable Turnover (R)*/
Annual Revenue

Rate of Tax (R)

Companies – Income Tax

All

27% of taxable income

Small Business Corporations – Income Tax

1 – 95 750

0% of taxable income

Small Business Corporations – Income Tax

95 751 – 365 000

7% of taxable income above 95 750

Small Business Corporations – Income Tax

365 001 – 550 000

18 848 + 21% of taxable income above 365 000

Small Business Corporations – Income Tax

550 001 and above

57 698 + 27% of the amount above 550 000

Micro Businesses – Turnover Tax

1 – 335 000*

0% of taxable turnover

Micro Businesses – Turnover Tax

335 001 – 500 000*

1% of taxable turnover above 335 000

Micro Businesses – Turnover Tax

500 001 – 750 000*

1 650 + 2% of taxable turnover above 500 000

Micro Businesses – Turnover Tax

750 001 and above*

6 650 + 3% of taxable turnover above 750 000

* New Multinational Corporations – Global Minimum Corporate Tax

Annual revenue exceeding €750 million

Minimum 15%

 Sources:  SARS’ Budget Tax Guide 2024; Budget Speech 2024

sin taxes increased

EXCISE DUTIES

Excise duties on 

2024 Increases

2023 Increases

Malt beer

14c per 340ml can

10c per 340ml can

Unfortified wine

28c per 750ml bottle

18c per 750ml bottle

Fortified wine

47c per 750ml bottle

31c per 750ml bottle

Sparkling wine

89c per 750ml bottle

9c per 750ml bottle

Ciders and alcoholic fruit beverages

14c per 340ml can

10c per 340ml can

Spirits

R5.53 per 750ml bottle

R3.90 per 750ml bottle

Cigarettes

97c per packet of 20

98c per packet of 20

Nicotine, non-nicotine solution for electronic delivery systems

14c per ml

–

Cigarette tobacco

R1.09 per 50g

R1.10 per 50g

Pipe tobacco

57c per 25g

33c per 25g

Cigars

R9.51 per 23g

R5.47 per 23g

 Sources:  Budget 2024 People’s Guide

HOW MUCH WILL YOU BE PAYING IN INCOME, PETROL AND SIN TAXES?

Use Fin 24’s four-step Budget Calculator here to find out the monthly and annual impact on your income tax, as well as what you will pay in future in terms of fuel and sin taxes, bearing in mind that the best way to fully understand the impact of the announcements in Budget 2024 on your own and your business affairs is to reach out to us for professional advice. 

Budget 2024: How It Affects You and Your Business

Budget 2024:  how it affects you and your business

“Our bigger challenge… is that our pie is not growing fast enough and this limits our ability to generate sufficient revenues to distribute among our priority areas.”

- Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana – Budget 2024

There were few surprises and little in the form of good news in Budget Speech 2024. Although there were no major tax proposals and no major tax rate hikes announced, individual taxpayers will bear the brunt of a R15 billion Budget shortfall, while multinational corporations will pay a global minimum corporate tax, and plans are afoot to tap into the SARB-administered contingency reserve account. 

Here is a brief overview of the most pertinent announcements for individuals and businesses that underscore
the need for professional tax advice in the year ahead.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s third Budget Speech in an election year contained few surprises, but also little in the form of good news, especially for South Africa’s personal income tax payers.

The Minister quoted dismal local average expected real GDP growth of 0.6% for 2023, which is projected to reach 1.6% between 2024 and 2026. This poor economic performance is ascribed to the persistent constraints in electricity supply and freight, rail and ports, as well as a high sovereign credit risk.  And the result? A sharp drop in tax revenue collection for 2023/24 which, at R1.73 trillion, is R56.1 billion lower than estimated! To make up the shortfall, Budget 2024 contains tax measures that will raise an additional R15 billion in 2024/2025, mainly through income tax raised by not adjusting personal tax brackets, rebates and medical tax credits for inflation, as well as above-inflation increases in alcohol and tobacco excise duties. 

Other main proposals included no increase to the general fuel levy for 2024/25, a global tax on multinational companies in South Africa with an annual revenue exceeding €750 million and the R150 billion withdrawal from SA’s Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account. These announcements are briefly detailed below, along with some of the other announcements that will impact individuals and businesses.

budget proposals that will impact you

  • Addressing the Budget shortfall, personal income tax brackets are not adjusted for inflation – so individuals who received a salary increase this year are likely to pay more tax as they could fall into a higher tax bracket.
  • No inflation adjustments to the tax rebates.
  • Medical tax credits per month are not increased by inflation.
  • A one-year extension in the R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant and increases ranging from R20 to R100 per month in other social grants.
  • Above-inflation increases in the excise duties on alcohol and increases of between 4.7 and 8.2% on tobacco products. This means that the duty on:
      • a 340ml can of beer increases by 14c,
      • a 750ml bottle of wine goes up by 28c,
      • a 750ml bottle of fortified wine goes up by 47c,
      • a 750ml bottle of spirits will increase by R5.53,
      • a 23g cigar goes up by R9.51,
      • a pack of 20 cigarettes, rises by 97c,
      • vaping products increase to R3.04 per millilitre.
  • Two-pot retirement reform to be implemented on 1 September 2024, allowing individuals access to a portion of their retirement savings before their retirement date.

budget proposals that will impact your business

  • A global minimum corporate tax will be implemented from 1 January 2024, with multinational corporations with an annual revenue exceeding €750 million subject to an effective tax rate of at least 15%, regardless of where their profits are located. This will broaden the corporate tax base, enabling more tax revenue collection without increasing existing corporate taxes for local businesses. This new tax is expected to increase corporate tax collection by R8 billion in the 2026 tax year.
  • An increase in the limit for renewable energy projects that can qualify for the carbon offsets regime, from 15 megawatts to 30 megawatts.
  • An electrical and hydrogen-powered vehicle tax incentive introduced for manufacturers in 2026, enabling them to claim 150% of qualifying investment spending.
  • An increase in the carbon tax from R159 to R190 per tonne of CO2 equivalent from 1 January 2024.

budget proposals that will impact all

  • The general fuel levy and the Road Accident Fund levy will not be increased this year, providing tax relief of R4 billion.
  • However, the carbon fuel levy will increase to 11c per litre for petrol and 14c per litre for diesel effective from 3 April 2024.
  • Plastic bag levy to increase to 32c per bag from 1 April 2024.
  • The R150 billion withdrawal from SA’s Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account to pay down government debt.

how to best manage your taxes going forward?

In addition to the announcements detailed above, other technical amendments proposed in the Budget 2024 may also require professional tax advice.  Furthermore, as tax collection remains government’s main source of income, you would be well-advised to rely on our expertise and advice as we determine the impact of the Budget 2024 announcements on your tax affairs. 

TAX DEADLINES FOR MARCH 2024

  • 07 March – Monthly Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) submissions and payments
  • 25 March – Value-Added Tax (VAT) manual submissions and payments 
  • 27 March – Excise Duty payments
  • 28 March – End of the 2023/2024 Financial year, Value-Added Tax (VAT) electronic submissions and payments, & CIT Provisional payments where applicable

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