New PBO disclosure requirements for donation certificates

SARS has recently announced new requirements for the mandatory disclosure of Section 18A certificate information to SARS. (IT3(d) certificates for all section 18A donations received).

The new IT3(d) certificates come into effect on 1 March 2023 and applies to all receipts issued on or after this date.

The new certificate format now requires certain mandatory information to be included on all receipts issued in terms of section 18A(2)(a) of the Income Tax Act:

• Donor nature of the person (natural person, company, trust, etc.);
• Donor identification type and country of issue (in case of a natural person);
• Identification or registration number of the donor;
• Income tax reference number of the donor (if available);
• The contact number of the donor;
• Electronic mail address of the donor;
• A unique receipt number; and
• Trading name of the donor (if different from the registered name).

(This information is in addition to the existing basic information listed in the section 18A(2))

From the 2023/2024 tax year, all the IT3(d) certificates must be submitted to SARS via a “third party information” portal with each IT3(d) certificate having a unique reference. This would apply to all S18A donations issued to donors – whether in cash or goods/services (in specie). The aim of the IT3(d) project is the proposed automation of the submission of the Section 18A tax-deductible donations receipts and information to SARS.

The benefits of the submission of the Section 18A information to SARS are that it will enable the pre-population of donation information on the income tax returns of taxpayers.

Please contact us should you require assistance with these IT3(d) certificates, or submissions or if you have any queries on the new requirements.