The current economic conditions have significantly increased credit risk for many businesses already struggling to make ends meet. As important as securing ongoing business may be, it only contributes financially if payment is also received for goods or services rendered. Many business owners may therefore be considering implementing changes to their billing practices or payment terms in order to ensure payments are timeously received from all serviced customers. Those owners considering requesting advance payments or deposits from customers may need to take into account the tax and other consequences of doing so. Furthermore, landlords in the process of replacing tenants may be faced with refunding or applying deposits of vacating tenants as well as receiving deposits from new tenants taking occupation. In this article we will firstly be focussing on some of the key considerations of receiving advance payments or deposits; and secondly some of the implications of making such advance payments or deposits.

Amid some uncertainty, SARS has confirmed that full-time employees will be able to claim home-office expenses during lockdown. But you have to work from home for at least six months of the tax year. And you can't just work from your dining room table.

The impact of COVID-19 on the world economy has been enormous. The “knock-down” effect of the lockdown in South Africa has been pervasive. For every business affected, there are people who have lost jobs or at best have had significantly reduced income. Reduced income reduces spending power. Reduced spending power reduces income (and therefore profits) to the companies that those individuals would ordinarily have bought from. Those companies in turn can no longer afford to pay their staff and so the cycle continues.