It has been proven that your webcam can indeed be hacked. Furthermore, the little light showing that it’s on can actually be turned off. It turns out, however, that your webcam isn’t the only thing that can be used to spy on you.

Proof That Your Earphones Are Spying On You

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have demonstrated malware that can turn computers into perpetual eavesdropping devices, even without a microphone.

SPEAKE(a)R

This malware – which is actual working code – is known as SPEAKE(a)R.

“The fact that headphones, earphones, and speakers are physically built like microphones, and that an audio port’s role in the PC can be reprogrammed from output to input, creates a vulnerability that can be abused by hackers,” says Prof. Yuval Elovici, director of the BGU Cyber Security Research Center (CSRC) and member of BGU’s Department of Information Systems Engineering.

“This is the reason people, like Facebook Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, tape up their mic and webcam,” says Mordechai Guri, lead researcher and head of Research and Development at the CSRC. “You might tape the mic, but it would be unlikely to tape the headphones or speakers.”

SPEAKE(a)R shows off how a determined hacker can repurpose the tech inside the speakers in your computer to turn it into voice-recording devices, without you knowing. What makes it even scarier, is that this works even when the speakers on your computer have been disabled or, even, completely removed.

The speakers in your headphones turn electromagnetic signals into sound through a membrane’s vibrations. This membrane can be reverse-engineered to record sound instead of just playing it.

Realtek’s Audio Chips

There is also a little known feature in Realtek’s audio chips (which are used in a number of computers). This lets the audio jack do double duty by allowing it to record audio as well as transmit it.

The team from Ben-Gurion tested a pair of ordinary Sennheiser earbuds. These worked so well as a microphone that they were able to record clear audio of a man’s voice. This even though the man was standing just over six meters away from the computer.

The scariest part about all of this is that there is no easy fix. This is because it’s not a software issue but, instead, a hardware issue with RealTek’s chips.

The post Your Headphones Can Hear You appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.

1. Single-Trip Insurance: This type of insurance only covers one overseas trip or one holiday. A cheaper option if you rarely travel compared to an annual travel insurance policy that covers multiple trips. Before you choose between the two, you need to add up the amount of annual trips you take at the cost of single trip insurance and compare it to the annual travel insurance premium. If you have two trips involving risky destinations or risky activities, an annual or multi-trip package may not cover both or would be very expensive so a single-trip package may suit your needs more. These packages generally cover: • Illness and injury • Loss of baggage • Cancellation of your holiday • Theft • Emergency repatriation • Public liability • Personal accidents

2. Multi-Trip Insurance: The cost of multi-trip travel insurance varies largely on factors including: • Worldwide or European cover • Family or individual cover • Your Age • Excess • Pre-existing medical conditions • Level of cover • Annual travel insurance checklist Helpful Tip: Look at family travel insurance on family vacations. Although not a type of insurance like the previous two, choosing this option can save you money by insuring the whole family instead of creating individual policies. Helpful Tip: Make sure you check the fine print of your policy as you may be visiting countries that your policy doesn’t cover.

©Diane Moalem for Compare Guru

The post Travel Insurance Basics appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.

While most have made concerted efforts to preserve water, many towns, including Constantia, Landsdowne, Newlands, Athlone, Rylands, Newfields, Kraaifontein, and Somerset West.

How Do You Save Water In Your Home?

This can be done in a number of ways, including:

1. Grey water usage for your garden and washing clothes.
2. Refraining from washing your car.
3. Refraining from watering your garden. 3b permits before 9am or after 6pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays for a maximum of one hour.
4. Restricting toilet flushing.
5. Fixing all leaks.
6. Not running the dishwasher until it is completely full.
7. Conserving electricity (power plants use water to cool down).
8. Choosing efficient fixtures that lower the water pressure, i.e. low-flow toilet, water-efficient shower heads, etc.
9. Shrinking your garden, or turning it into a succulent heaven instead.

CLICK BELOW to read about 3 ways you can save water that will also save you money!

What Is Grey Water?

Grey water is gently used or recycled water that comes from sinks, showers, tubs, and washing machines. It does not come into contact with faeces and, even though it may “look” dirty, it safe to use for irrigation.

Reusing your grey water keeps it out of the sewer or septic system. Thereby reducing the chance that it will pollute local water bodies. Reusing grey water for irrigation reconnects urban residents and our backyard gardens to the natural water cycle.

How Do You Save Water When You Shower?

It may seem strange at first, but the bucket method can prove highly effective when taking a shower. Simply place a bucket below the water faucet in the shower and it will catch all the flicks of water that usually go straight down the drain.

This water can be used to water the lawn and plants, or used in the washing machine with your next load.

Basic Grey Water Guidelines

Grey water is different from fresh water and requires different guidelines for it to be reused:

1. Don’t store grey water (more than 24 hours). If you store grey water, the nutrients in it will start to break down, creating bad odours.
2. Minimise contact with grey water. Grey water could potentially contain a pathogen if an infected person’s faeces got into the water. So, your system should be designed for the water to soak into the ground and not be available for people or animals to drink.
3. Infiltrate grey water into the ground, don’t allow it to pool up or run off. Knowing how well water drains into your soil (or the soil percolation rate of your soil) will help with proper design. Pooling grey water can provide mosquito breeding grounds, as well as a place for human contact with grey water.

Click here for an extensive guideline of Stage 3B water restrictions.

The post 9 Essential Water-Restriction Hacks appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.

Many have condemned the report as inaccurate and populist, stating that it contains out-dated pricing information and doesn’t take the quality of the network, or the amount network investment into account when comparing data prices.

Therefore, it could be said that the when it comes to matters of pricing, the report doesn’t really hold much merit. But then, it could also be said that with so many shifting factors to take into account, compiling an up-to-date analysis can be extremely challenging.

There are still some interesting things to learn. Let’s take a look.

Disappearing Data – Know What To Look For

What Can We Learn From The Data Services Market Inquiry Report?

Though most of the report appears to be half-baked, there are still several important things that we can take from these findings.

First off, international benchmarking confirms that the price of data in SA – particularly mobile prepaid data – is, in fact, quite high. This is also confirmed by other data compiled by UK-based Cable, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

It was also found that MTN and Vodacom charge higher prices in SA than in other countries. MyBroadband took a look at the prices of 30-day data bundles in prominent countries in which these networks operate, and, due to different sizes in bundles available, worked out an average price per GB. As you can see from the tables below, SA is by far the most expensive.

This could be explained by the fact that MTN and Vodacom both invest far more into South Africa than in those other countries, which does impact the price of data. We pay more for our data because we receive better quality and better coverage, it’s just that simple.

There’s still a huge difference in per-MB pricing, however, between smaller data bundles and larger data bundles. Using MTN monthly data bundles as an example, you could buy 1GB for R149 or you could buy 3GB for R299.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something is off about that, and the networks, when probed about this disparity, could not produce any answers.

Those who can afford it will spend the extra money, because they believe that they are now getting better value. Those who can’t afford to lay out the extra money will have to buy smaller bundles, but will inevitably be paying four or five times more per MB. Either way, Big Network gets what it wants, and in the last two weeks, both MTN and Vodacom have been slammed for not caring about the poor.

The Competition Commission has recommended introducing immediate relief on data pricing.

The Most Expensive Data In Africa

Not only do they have the most expensive petrol in the world, but our neighbours, Zimbabwe, also have the most expensive mobile data in the world. At least, that’s according to data compiled and analysed by UK-based Cable, based on 6 313 mobile data plans in 230 countries from 23 October to 28 November 2018.

Based on the above information, the average cost of 1 GB was calculated, and then compared from country to country

Howmuch.net produced a visualisation of global mobile data prices to save us from the agony of doing too much reading.

The data shows that Rwanda has the cheapest prices, at just R8.03 per GB, followed by Sudan at R9.75 per GB. The cheapest data in the whole world? India – at only R3.73 per GB.

Behind Zimbabwe, at R1078.20 per GB, Equatorial Guinea had the second most expensive data, at R943.85 per GB.

SA ranked 40th out of the 60 African countries listed in the report, with an average of R103.09 per GB of sweet, sweet data.

For The Best Prices On Insurance, Look No Further Than CompareGuru – Your New Favourite Online Comparison Tool!

CompareGuru knows what’s good – you’ll never need another insurance comparison tool again!

Sign up to our newsletter to stay up-to-speed with the latest news on data, phone scams and how to handle that pesky spam.

CompareGuru has you covered.

The post Why Do The Poor Pay More For Data? appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.

A novel approach to giving to charity, The Empty Shop concept is very simple: donate, style and empty. From the general public to fashion bloggers, stylists and celebrities, everyone is invited to contribute pre-loved clothing, which is then transformed daily on mannequins with show-stopping looks. Not only will people be able to donate alongside famous fashion and personality faces in South Africa, everyone who donates clothing will unite and be part of a new initiative, bringing charity and fashion together! Every evening the store will be emptied and ready to receive new donations the next day. “Our philosophy at McCann WorldGroup is centred on creativity and truth. At this stage the truth is that we all need to remember to give back to humanity.

Through The Empty Shop, Sandton City and McCann have created a unique platform centred on creativity, fashion and unity to help the less fortunate,” says Karabo Denalane, McCann Johannesburg Managing Director. With a media and celebrity launch on Tuesday, 28 October, The Empty Shop will see the first clothing donations displayed from 29 October to 16 November 2014. This ingenious fashion and charity store will be open in Sandton City’s Checkers Court daily from 9am to 7pm Monday to Thursday, 9am to 8pm Friday, and 9am to 6pm Saturday and Sunday. All clothing contributions will go to Sandton City’s selected charity for 2014, HospiceWits. “We are honoured to have been selected by Sandton City as the beneficiary of this exciting global CSI initiative. We urge South Africans to embrace The Empty Shop campaign – remember that your previously loved clothing can change someone else’s life,” says Joy Ruwodo, HospiceWits’s Marketing Manager.

Originally posted on BizCommunity: http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/422/121011.html

The post The Empty Shop finally comes to South Africa! appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.

After any user performs a speed test on either of MyBroadband’s speed test platforms, web-based or app, they are then asked to rate their ISP. These customer satisfaction ratings are then used to rank South Africa’s ISP’s.

In order to ensure a neutral speed testing environment – an even playing field, so to speak – MyBroadband’s HTML5 speed test servers are hosted in Teraco’s vendor-neutral data centres, with speed test servers at NAPAfrica’s peering points in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

These testing platforms accurately measure internet speed, rather than on-net speed, which most other speed test services use. We literally have no idea what the difference is, but it sounds impressive.

In the Q1 results (tested from January 2019 to March 2019), Cool Ideas emerged as both the fastest and highest-rated ISP in South Africa.

Let’s take a look at the latest results – which is South Africa’s current best and worst (the worst is Telkom, let’s not even pretend here) Internet Service Provider?

The Best And Worst ISP’s – Q2 2019

The following table ranks the top five ISP’s in South Africa, based on the average ratings received through MyBroadband’s web-based and mobile app speed tests. At the beginning of the year, MyBroadband noted that the same ISP’s that often topped the speed ranking list also ranked extraordinarily well in customer satisfaction ratings.

Fancy that.

According to the findings, the best Internet Service Provider in South Africa is currently Supersonic (4.81 rating), which came in at second place last quarter, followed by CyberSmart (4.66 rating) and MTN (4.19) in third.

Q1’s top ISP, Cool Ideas, dropped into fifth place this quarter, with a rating of 3.98 out of 5.

The absolute worst Internet Service Providers in South Africa came as no surprise. The standard of service that we ourselves experienced from Internet Solutions while putting together our Best ADSL Buyer’s Guide for last year was so abhorrent that we omitted the company from our guide entirely.

MWEB has long been a totem of incompetence in the industry, as well. No surprise that it ranked second worst, just as it did last quarter. Liquid Telecom was rated third worst.

And finally, the worst Internet Service Provider in South Africa – with an approval rating of just 2.2 out of 5 (they have somehow managed to score even worse than Q1’s 2.6) – is Telkom, whose idea of internet is akin to something like two tin cans and a string.

Wondering Where To Find The Best Insurance, At The Best Prices? Look No Further – CompareGuru Has You Covered!

CompareGuru knows what’s good – you’ll never need another insurance comparison tool again!

Sign up to our newsletter to stay up-to-speed with the latest news on data, phone scams and how to handle that pesky spam.

CompareGuru has you covered.

The post The Best and Worst Internet Providers in SA – Q2 2019 appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.

‘Impact Team’ vowed to release the information of 37 million registered members online unless Ashley Madison closed down their site.

The Stolen user information has reportedly been posted in a large torrent file on the Dark Web. According toArs Technica, the 10-gigabyte file contains “e-mails, member profiles, and credit-card transactions” along with other sensitive information.

Ashley Madison’s parent company is investigating the matter, but refused to comply with the hacker’s demands.

They released the following statement:

Last month we were made aware of an attack to our systems. We immediately launched a full investigation utilizing independent forensic experts and other security professionals to assist with determining the origin, nature, and scope of this attack.

Our investigation is still ongoing and we are simultaneously cooperating fully with law enforcement investigations, including by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Toronto Police Services and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

We have now learned that the individual or individuals responsible for this attack claim to have released more of the stolen data. We are actively monitoring and investigating this situation to determine the validity of any information posted online and will continue to devote significant resources to this effort.

Furthermore, we will continue to put forth substantial efforts into removing any information unlawfully released to the public, as well as continuing to operate our business.

This event is not an act of hacktivism, it is an act of criminality. It is an illegal action against the individual members of AshleyMadison.com, as well as any freethinking people who choose to engage in fully lawful online activities. The criminal, or criminals, involved in this act have appointed themselves as the moral judge, juror, and executioner, seeing fit to impose a personal notion of virtue on all of society.

We will not sit idly by and allow these thieves to force their personal ideology on citizens around the world. We are continuing to fully cooperate with law enforcement to seek to hold the guilty parties accountable to the strictest measures of the law.

Every week sees new hacks disclosed by companies large and small, and though this may now be a new societal reality, it should not lessen our outrage. These are illegitimate acts that have real consequences for innocent citizens who are simply going about their daily lives.

Regardless, if it is your private pictures or your personal thoughts that have slipped into public distribution, no one has the right to pilfer and reveal that information to audiences in search of the lurid, the titillating, and the embarrassing.

We know that there are people out there who know one or more of these individuals, and we invite them to come forward. While we are confident that the authorities will identify and prosecute each of them to the fullest extent of the law, we also know there are individuals out there who can help to make this happen faster.

Anyone with information that can lead to the identification, arrest and conviction of these criminals, can contact information@avidlifemedia.com.

The post South African Cheaters Revealed In Ashley Madison Hack!!! appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.

With the increase in petrol, everything else follows – especially food – while salaries stay the same as winter steadily approaches.

We’ve already heard about the increase in the General Fuel Levy. The considerable 50c-per-litre increase was postponed at the end of April, meaning that we entered May with a fuel price deficit. Right now, we’re facing increases of 74c a litre for petrol, 81c for diesel and 78c for paraffin.

In only three months, we’ve seen the price of inland petrol rise from R13.76 to R14.97.

We took a look at where SA ranks in global fuel pricing and how we compare to other countries.

Is the price of fuel starting to impact your monthly budget? Start paying less on your car insurance premium today and have more for the month!

How Does SA Compare To Other African Countries?

The price of petrol in South Africa is constantly on the rise – and the truth of the matter is that our fuel just doesn’t come at a comfortable price. But, how do we compare to our African neighbours?

It is aggravating to find that many African countries get their petrol far cheaper than we do – including Sudan, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt – all of which pay less than R6 a litre. Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Tunisia, Ethiopia and even Lesotho all get their fuel cheaper too.

Some don’t have it much easier than we do. The Bloomberg Fuel Price Index shows that Zambia has the most expensive fuel in Africa – with a litre costing R18.81. Zimbabwe also pays more than us, at R16.53 per litre.

South Africa is the oil-to-liquid-fuel refining powerhouse of the southern region, as well as leading in fuel storage and distribution. Adding to that, Angola, which is just north of Namibia, is the second largest exporter of oil in Africa.

Why isn’t our petrol more affordable? The most probable answer? Quality of life.

It has to be noted that there is a direct correlation, particularly in Africa, between a low standards of living and low fuel prices. This may be uncomfortable to recognise, but it’s the truth. We as South Africans may be forced to admit that, though we desire the low petrol prices of Sudan, Egypt or Nigeria, we probably wouldn’t want to live in the countries which come with it.

This isn’t always the case, and there are many other factors which come into play which make direct comparison impossible. Zimbabwe is proof of that.

And then, of course, it’s no secret that in South Africa, private motorists are an easy source of revenue for the government. Like fishing with dynamite.

Do you know who are the best and worst insurance companies in South Africa? We found out!

How Affordable Is Fuel In South Africa?

Some of the highest fuel prices in the world can be found in the world’s wealthiest nations. These countries have responsible governments and steady currencies – so we can’t even blame the high fuel prices on the things we often blame it on here.

Corruption. Incompetence. Wasteful spending.

If we have a look at Global Petrol Prices, Iceland currently has the most expensive fuel in the world. This is followed by Hong Kong and then Norway.

If we have a look at the likes of these countries – they have provided the inhabitants with great, reliable public transport. Private transport is seen as more of a luxury than a necessity – and it is taxed accordingly.

And then looking to the United States, we find a very balanced and comfortable R10.47 per litre; and it begins to make a little more sense. US government policy has weaned the country off of Venezuelan and Middle-Eastern imported crude oil. Instead, they’ve developed a solid domestic shale-to-oil industry.

South Africa has a world-class coal-to-liquid-fuel industry. Regrettably, our government hasn’t incentivised the industry to follow suit.

In terms of the most expensive petrol in the world, SA ranks 20th on Bloomberg’s Index. We also rank 56th in terms of affordability and 60th for total amount of income spent on fuel expenditure.

According to the Index, the average South African earns R237.13 a day. At that rate, it takes almost 6% of a day’s wages to buy one litre of petrol. The average motorist, it says, uses up to 202 litres a year – which equates to around 3.3% of the average annual salary.

Anybody who has ever had to deal with metropolitan traffic, day in and day out, will recognise this percentage as far too low.

Fuel Prices – In Closing

So, South Africans are set to feel the pain at the pumps this year. But, it could be worse.

Venezuelans are currently enjoying the cheapest fuel in the world – at just 11c a litre. But, Venezuela is also home to three of the top ten most violent cities in the world. The economy is collapsing, inflation is ridiculously high, the people earn low wages and many among them are beginning to flee the country.

By contrast, we have countries such as Norway. Norway is one of the most refined oil exporters in the world. The Norwegian government could lower their fuel prices from the staggering R24.84 per litre to something more in line with Botswana, Nigeria or Angola. But, they won’t…

Norwegians are quite happy with paying these prices. It means that they can enjoy a high quality of life under a competent government.

The best South Africa can hope for, at this point in time, is something in between – which is pretty much where we are.

It’s important to remember this, the next time you pull up to the pumps.

The post SA Fuel Prices Compared To The World appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.

This is likely due to the pay and benefits associated with government positions. But just how much do public servants get paid on average? And are these wages higher than that of the average South African?

StatsSA recently released its data on the highest paying government departments, shedding some light on the topic.

Here’s what we learnt…

Read More about the most attractive companies to work for in SA below

Government Departments With Highest Average Salaries

According to StatsSA, national government departments spent around R137-billion on employee salaries in 2015/16.

The vast majority of these wages went to workers within the South African Police Service (SAPS). In fact, the police service accounted for 42% of wages paid by national government during the financial year.

Meanwhile, the Department of Defence accounted for 18% of wages and Correctional Services accounted for 10%. The remaining 30% of funds went towards paying employees in other departments.

However, the share of the wage budget may not result from the levels of pay for employees, but rather the number of employees. This means that SAPS doesn’t necessarily pay high salaries, but has a high number of employees.

Luckily, StatsSA also identified what each department pays per civil servant on average. This gives a more accurate picture of which departments pay high salaries. So what does this ranking reveal?

The Office of the Chief Justice took the top spot as the highest-paying government department. The average employee there earns R808 249 per annum.

Second place went to International Relations and Cooperation, while third place went to Parliament.

In what may be a surprise for some, The Presidency only ranked at number 30 on the list – with an average salary of R454 534.

The average wage for employees across all departments stood at R328 104 p.a.

So where did SAPS land up? Well, the department has 192 829 employees – who earn an average of R298 002 per annum. This works out to just over R24 800 per month. While this pales in comparison to many other departments, it is well above the average income for South Africans.

In fact, out of the 47 government department averages in the ranking, even the lowest paid employees earn more than the average South African.

You can see the average wage for different departments in the ranking below:

Average Salaries For South Africans

But what does the average South African earn? This depends mostly on the industry which they work in.

According to the 2014/15 Living Conditions Survey, the average South African household earned R138 168 p.a. in 2015.

This survey took into account total income for households, rather than just the income for individuals. What the findings show is that civil servants on average earn much more than regular South African households every year.

According to a report by the National Minimum Wage Research Initiative, the average South African earns around R8 669 per month. This adds up to an annual income of around R104 028.

These figures show that the average civil servant earns over three times the income of the average South African. But how do these figures compare when looking at specific industries?

Average Income By Industry

StatsSA released the gross average earnings for employees in different sectors in their Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) for December 2016.

The report does not include informal workers or workers in the agricultural sector. This results in a recorded average monthly wage of R18 502 for South Africans in November 2016.

This is a lower average wage than all 47 government departments in the ranking, despite the exclusion of informal and agricultural workers.

The survey also found that the highest-paying industry on average is the electricity, gas and water supply sector.

Employees in this industry earn an average of R38 239 per month. This works out to an annual salary of R458 868, which is just a bit higher than average wages in The Presidency.

This means that the average employee in South Africa’s highest-paying industry earns less that the top 29 highest-paying government departments.

Furthermore, the highest-paying government department (Office of the Chief Justice) pays an average annual salary that is almost double that of South Africa’s highest-paying industry.

In fact, the lowest-paying government department in the ranking (Higher Education) still pays more to its average employee than the manufacturing, construction, retail, hospitality, repair service and finance/business industries. The only sectors that outpace the Higher Education’s average wage are the social services, transport, communications, mining and the utilities sectors.

Meanwhile, only the utilities sector (water, electricity and gas) pays more that the overall average wage of civil servants across all departments.

It looks like there’s definitely a reason why more people are hoping to nab government jobs.

The post Government Employees vs. Other Workers: Who Earns More? appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.

When you’re an employee, it’s easy to take for granted all the functions that get handled by your employment. Like admin, registering for tax, and making sure there’s toilet paper in the staff bathroom. As a freelancer, however, there are a host of functions that now fall solely to you.

Like the saying goes, “With great freedom, comes great responsibility.” Or was it with great power? Anyway, taxes don’t have to be this big scary, expensive thing you keep running from for the rest of your freelance life.

CLICK HERE for a comprehensive list of tips on how to file tax.

Taxes For (Freelance) Beginners

There’s a lot of information online to help freelancers do their taxes. From applying for tax directives, to how to register as a company to pay less tax, etc. etc. If you’re new to the game, all this information can often leave freelancers dazed and even more confused than before.

Forget about all that. We spoke to Suzelle Groenewald, a professional accountant and founder of Groenewald & Associates, about the tax basics. She’s helped us simplify the tax process for new freelancers, based on the questions freelancers ask her most frequently. Here are her ‘dos and don’ts’ for first time freelancers – or freelancers who’ve just put off getting their taxes in order.

7 Things Every New Freelancer Needs to Know About Tax

1. Freelancers DO NOT Have To Register As a Company / Any Business Entity

Often, freelancers are under the misconception that they have to register as a company. It’s not necessary and often causes more headaches trying to figure out all the different tax requirements for each business entity. Along with deciding which one will work for you in the long term. If you’d like to expand later on, this would be a consideration. But, for now, keep it as simple as possible.

2 You DO Have To Be Registered For Provisional Tax

Whether you’re a full-time freelancer, or you’re moonlighting outside of your nine-to-five, you will have to register as a provisional taxpayer. Provided you’re under 65 and your taxable income exceeds R75 000 for the tax year.

According to TaxTim, a provisional taxpayer is anyone who earns income other than a salary. Examples include: rental income from a property, interest income from investments, or other income from a trade (i.e.: the service you’re providing as a freelancer).

Regular taxpayers submit one tax return every year in February – an ITR12. But, SARS wants to help provisional taxpayers avoid paying one large chunk of tax in February. Provisional taxpayers make payments to SARS manually in an IRP6 tax return twice a year – in February and August. But, they also need to fill in an ITR12 tax return once during tax season (July – November), along with regular taxpayers.

3. DO Register For PAYE

If two submissions are too few for you, you can submit PAYE returns every month. Groenewald says this will help you keep your personal income tax payments up-to-date on a monthly basis to avoid paying big amounts of tax twice a year.

CLICK BELOW to read about the top five questions asked about the new license renewal laws.

4. DO Submit Financial Statements To SARS

You don’t have to do this, but Groenewald advises it is to your advantage to submit financial statements as a sole trader in order to simplify the income tax submission process.

5. DO Keep An Accurate Logbook

“If you want to claim motor vehicle expenses, you must keep an accurate logbook clearly indicating business kilometres, clients visited, reason for visit, as well as private kilometres, which must be submitted to SARS when submitting your income tax,” says Groenewald.

6. DO Claim For Business Expenses

…Including those relating to your home office. You can claim a percentage of the bond / rent, your electricity and water bills, as well as your internet usage, as far as it corresponds directly with business use. Tax deductions, yes.

7. DO NOT Throw Away Your Slips

This is the golden rule. You may be able to categorise your expenses on your bank statement, but it may not be enough.

“Keep all your invoices and slips for all expenses you want to claim; SARS may request all invoices as proof of expenses incurred,” concludes Groenewald.

The post 7 Tax Dos And Don’ts Every New Freelancer Needs to Know appeared first on Insurance Quotes 24.