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Fringe benefit exemption for World Cup goods |
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On 10 June SARS announced their proposal that World Cup related goods given by employers to their employees will be exempt from fringe benefit taxation.
The exemption will:
- be limited to a maximum value of R750 per employee
- apply only to "2010 FIFA World Cup" related goods, such as T-shirts and jerseys (and similar clothing) and match tickets.
It is proposed to be a one-off exemption that will only apply to World Cup goods supplied to employees between 1 March 2010 and 11 July 2010.
The SARS press release notes that:
"The proposed exemption is also in support of employers that have encouraged their employees to wear FIFA World Cup T-shirts and jerseys, particularly on what has become known as "Football-Friday", to show their support for South Africa's hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The draft legislation is aligned with Cabinet's view last week that the 2010 FIFA World Cup "is already playing a key role to promote nation building [as] millions of South Africans from all walks of life are wearing shirts and other regalia to support Bafana Bafana every single day, especially on Fridays...". "
However, PwC Tax Technical raises a word of caution. It unlikely that this proposed legislation will be promulgated before the end of the World Cup and, in fact, some time around September seems more likely. Therefore, employers who do act on the basis of this website release will effectively be relying on the goodwill of SARS and Parliament that the exemption will indeed be passed into law and that (importantly) it will be made retrospective to 1 March 2010 as currently proposed in the website release. |
