Which ITR14 returns need signed financial statements
Which South African companies must attach signed annual financial statements to the ITR14, what the statements must contain and who signs them.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in South Africa
The ITR14 is ready to submit, and the junior asks whether the financial statements go with it. For one client the answer is yes; for another sitting in the same folder, they are optional. The difference turns on how SARS classifies the company on the return, and getting it wrong means either a return SARS treats as incomplete or an upload nobody needed.
This article sets out which companies must submit signed annual financial statements with the ITR14, what the statements must contain, who signs them, and how to keep the submitted version under control.
Who must attach statements
SARS's ITR14 guide says signed annual financial statements must be submitted with the ITR14 by small businesses and by medium to large businesses, including REITs, and are optional for other companies.
So the classification on the return drives the requirement. Many of the trading companies a practice looks after will sit in one of the two categories that must attach statements; a company for which attaching is optional needs to be shown to be one, not assumed to be.
The small business classification
The same guide classifies a company as a small business for the ITR14 if it:
- is not a body corporate, share block company or micro business;
- has total assets not exceeding R10 million;
- has gross income not exceeding R20 million.
The guide gives these thresholds for year-ends from 30 April 2013. Check the current guide for the year you are filing, because classifications and thresholds can change.
Note the exclusions in the first condition. A body corporate is not a small business for this purpose, whatever its size, and neither is a micro business. Before deciding that statements are optional, confirm which category the company actually falls into and record why.
What the statements must contain, and who signs
SARS's guide says the statements must contain at least an income statement, a balance sheet and notes, and that the company representative or public officer must sign them.
The signature is the client's, not the practice's. Whatever sign-off the practice applies internally, the statements submitted with the ITR14 carry the signature of the company's representative or public officer. Build that into the timetable: the signed copy has to come back from the client before submission, and a public officer who is travelling can hold up the return.
Requesting the return and correcting it
The guide says the ITR14 is requested on eFiling and is not e-mailed or posted by SARS. It also says a request for correction is not allowed while a dispute is in progress or after the period to amend an assessment has passed. Where the return is submitted at a SARS office, SARS staff only capture the information and will not help interpret the financial statements.
Two practical consequences. First, the practice has to request the return for each year rather than wait for it to arrive. Second, the window for fixing a mistake is limited, so the statements attached should be the final, signed version, not a draft that might change.
Keeping the records
The guide says all supporting documents for the ITR14 must be retained for five years from the date the return is submitted, and longer if the company is under audit, investigation, objection or appeal, until that is concluded.
Supporting documents include the financial statements themselves, the trial balance and the tax computation. Keep the exact version submitted, not a later draft with the same file name.
Building and issuing the statements in Achekam
From a mapped trial balance, the Studio builds a draft set of annual financial statements, with every figure calculated in code, including the directors' report, the four primary statements, policies, notes and a detailed income statement. That covers the minimum contents SARS describes. The practitioner's report follows the level chosen: audit, independent review, compilation or none.
Each set names a preparer, a reviewer and an engagement partner. Only a user with a partner role can sign, and the person recorded as preparer or reviewer cannot issue the set. That is the practice's own sign-off. It does not replace the client's signature that SARS requires.
Staff can download the statements as an A4 PDF, and issuing stores the final PDF with a fingerprint and locks that version. For the ITR14, that lock is useful: the version attached to the return and the version in the practice's records can be shown to be the same. Achekam's board and tax packs are the statutory set under another name, and their cards list what is not yet included, so check the card before choosing a pack for submission.
A short sequence before submission:
- Confirm the company's ITR14 classification and whether statements must be attached.
- Issue the final set in the Studio so the version is locked.
- Send it to the representative or public officer for signature.
- Request the ITR14 on eFiling and complete it from the same figures.
- Attach the signed statements, submit, and file the confirmation with the issued version.
The tax note itself is covered in the tax note and the company rate, and choosing the right template for the entity is in statement templates by entity type.
SARS's guide to the return
SARS's guide to completing the ITR14 for companies sets out the classifications, what must be attached and how corrections work. Check the classification section for each company before the next filing season, and note the answer on the client's file.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
