COVID-19 Latest Update
Latest on Copyright Bill
The EU delegation has sent a letter to South Africa President Cabinet on 20 March 2020, following the Parliament passing the Copyright Amendment Bill in March 2019. The Bill has since been with the President to be signed into law. The letter “humbly question whether it may not be opportune to defer the adoption of this reform, possibly by engaging in a process which would more closely anchor the South African copyright regime to the international conventions and treaties”.
The delegation also said that “This significant departure from the level of protection of copyrighted protected works, contrary to the international standards in force in most of countries, is therefore likely to result in non-negligible effects for the South African economy”.
This was followed by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) accepting a petition filed by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). The petition alleged that the Government of South Africa does not provide adequate and effective copyright protection for U.S. copyrighted works. The South African hearing was held in Washington DC on 31 January 2020. SA delegates advocated that South Africa should continue to retain eligibility for the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)
The Copyright Coalition of SA which Printing SA is part of, has been calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa not to pass the Bill into law in its current form as it will have unintended consequences. Printing SA also humbly request the President to take note of the of the European Commission recommendations.
View the EU letter to SA Cabinet
View written submissions of SA to USTR
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TAX Relief Benefits
Please find attached for your information the following that has been published on the SARS website:
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A YouTube video that focuses on the Disaster Management Tax Relief for Employees’ Tax, ETI and Provisional Tax. You can access it via the SARS website or click here.
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The FAQs will be updated to provide clarity on the following:
Q: What amount must I declare on my EMP 201? A: The full employees’ tax liability withheld or deducted from remuneration must be declared (that is, as per normal process). If you are a qualifying taxpayer, only pay 80% of this employees’ tax liability by the relevant due dates. SARS will defer the 20% employees’ tax liability and not impose/charge any penalties and interest on this deferred amount.
- A practise has been picked up by tax practitioners whereby they copy all 4 regional practitioner mailboxes in their mails. This causes unnecessary volumes. We have amended the website to address this behaviour, but please will you also engage your members directly and request that they only send one incident to one regional mailbox or else it causes unnecessary congestion and delayed responses.
Urgent input needed for SMME support
Printing SA CEO, Dr Abdool Majid Mahomed sits on the Board of SACCI and is working closely with the Adv. Mtho Xulu who is the Lead: SME Immediate Interventions for Business for SA | COVID-19 response workstream as part of the Covid-19 economic response team.
BSA are trying to understand the biggest challenges for SMMEs and how best to focus support. Could you please take a few minutes to respond to the three questions below?
What are your members’ biggest pain points and challenges, in dealing with the crisis and getting support? Which of your members are most at risk during these times? How long do you think they can survive under the current circumstances? Where do you think we as BSA are best placed to intervene? We will use your responses to guide our thinking and come up with targeted interventions that will provide much needed relief to our members. Please send your responses to president@sacci.org.za & aKaterere@printingsa.org
INTERIM CONTRIBUTION ARRANGEMENTS AMID COVID-19
The Principal Officer of SATU has made a decision relating to the Pension Fund Interim contribution arrangements to accommodate the employers. The full statement can be viewed here
Although Printing SA endeavours to supply correct and updated information relating to the Covid-19 prescribed government updates it does not guarantee the correct interpretation thereof, nor do we accept any liability for any information or statements supplied by external sources herein. The labour laws in South Africa change continuously and employers should stay up to date with new developments. We accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any adverse consequences that may arise, including but not limited to, financial loss, compensation orders, fines in this regard.