Tax refunds for people with disabilities in the workplace

People living with a disability are eligible to claim their tax according to a local non-government organisation Let Us Assist.

This was evident with some of the testimonies from people who have benefited with the help from the organisation. “It is such a good thing that the big corporations in South Africa must, by law, employ people with disabilities,” said Gail Kamanga, a resident from Alexandra.

“However, there is no help for disabled people when it comes to claiming a tax credit from South African Revenue Services (Sars). It concerns me that there are so many people who do not know how and what to claim.”

Read: Tax free savings options in South Africa

There are many large expenses resulting from disabilities and nonmedical expenses which help disabled people lead a reasonable life, said Kamanga.

She works with Let us Assist which specialises in claiming tax refunds for people in the workplace with disabilities.

Manager of the organisation, Philippa Dissel, said it is evident from Sars statistics that many disabled people or parents of disabled children are not claiming tax relief. “There are reasons why this situation exists. Firstly, there are many disabled people who do not realise that they qualify for disability credits and then there are those who are claiming, but who are just not getting the full possible tax credit,” she said.

Sars regulations allow tax claims to be made retrospectively and people are also unaware of this fact, she added.

Nankie Manamodie who, as a child, was severely disabled by a discarded hand grenade, also testified about the joy of benefiting from Let Us Assist’s programme. “I have worked for many years and had no idea that this benefit was available to me.

“Can you imagine my absolute joy and surprise when R15 929 was deposited into my bank account by Sars! I could not believe it.”

Read: Tax eFiling, from debit pull transactions to credit push transactions

She said Let us Assist only charged her a small commission of what she received, adding that if she gets nothing, neither do they.

The tax season starts on 1 July for submissions of your tax returns for March 2017 to February 2018.

Should you not have claimed in earlier years or think that you did not receive the full credit that you should have, for this year and previous years go to the website www.letusassist.co.za or phone Gail Kamanga 082 048 2411.

Details: Philippa Dissel 010 900 3060.

Share your thoughts about this story on our Facebook page.