Tax Practitioner (BBS864)

We're looking for a Tax Practitioner to handle the full tax compliance cycle for a simulated portfolio of small, owner-managed companies, their directors and shareholders, sole proprietors, and family trusts, from registrations and provisional tax through to annual returns, SARS correspondence, and disputes. Your work becomes the training data and workflow designs that a cutting-edge AI tax system learns from. This is a long-term, permanent role working directly with the founder and an AI partner at the frontier of AI development in tax. This is not a traditional tax role. Yes, you will be running each simulated client's full tax year to a professional standard. But you will also be documenting the steps, decisions, and judgments behind your work, not just the outputs, and helping design and test the AI workflows that follow your methodology. If you have hands-on SARS eFiling experience across at least two full filing seasons, understand the South African tax compliance cycle end to end, and have a genuine interest in breaking tax work into clear, teachable steps for AI to follow, this role is a strong fit. Why You'll Want to Join • You will be paid in USD (bi-monthly: every 15th and 30th) Paid Time Off in accordance with company policy • Observance of Holidays per company guidelines 100% remote setup so you can work wherever you're most productive • Own a simulated client portfolio and work alongside an AI partner from day one • Long-term, permanent role at the cutting edge of AI development in tax where your judgment directly shapes the AI that tax practitioners will use What You'll Work On Tax Returns • Prepare individual tax returns (ITR12) including capital gains, collecting IRP5s, IT3 certificates, medical aid and retirement annuity certificates, travel logbooks, and rental schedules, and check auto-assessments before accepting them • Complete company tax returns (ITR14) from the signed AFS and the AFS Accountant's tax computation including small business corporation and assessed loss positions • Estimate taxable income for company provisional tax (IRP6) for the first and second periods and plan top-up payments to avoid underestimation penalties • Estimate taxable income for individual provisional tax (IRP6) for owners and sole proprietors and advise on third top-up payments • Prepare dividends tax returns (DTR01) and payments when clients declare dividends and confirm exemption declarations • Identify donations above the annual exemption and prepare IT144 returns and payments • Prepare IT3(t) submissions and ITR12T trust returns and track distributions and vesting to beneficiaries SARS Administration • Reconcile EMP201 payments to payroll for interim and annual periods and issue IRP5 and IT3(a) certificates (EMP501) • Handle one-off client requests including tax numbers, notices of registration, copies of assessments, statements, and confirmation letters • Maintain eFiling profiles, practitioner mandates, banking details, and registered particulars; reconcile statements of account; follow up refunds; and obtain Tax Compliance Status PINs • Draft objections and appeals, requests for suspension of payment and penalty remission requests, and track each to outcome • Respond to SARS verifications and audits with complete supporting documents, working with the AFS Accountant on relevant records, and submit requests for correction • Register clients for income tax, provisional tax, PAYE, SDL, UIF, and VAT including mandatory and voluntary VAT registration • Update registered representatives and public officers with SARS when directors change • Register clients as importers or exporters with SARS Customs and keep customs details current • Request instalment payment arrangements for tax debts and track client compliance • Deregister dormant clients from income tax, PAYE, and VAT with SARS and file CIPC deregistration once tax affairs are in order Portfolio and Deadline Management • Keep a deadline calendar for every client covering filing season dates, provisional tax periods, EMP501 periods, and ITR14 due dates • Plan workload around filing season and the February provisional tax peak • Check that SARS third-party data, prior assessments, and payments match the client's information before submitting • Handle requests to simulated clients and bookkeepers to obtain missing or unclear documents • Flag turnover above the R2.3m VAT registration threshold when a client is not registered • Raise tax risks and planning points to your AI partner including loan accounts, fringe benefits, and missed deductions Building AI for Tax • Prepare each simulated return and submission to a professional standard so it serves as high-quality training data • Record the steps, decisions, and judgments behind your work in a way that can be taught to an AI model • Design and refine the tax workflows the AI follows, step by step • Test the AI against your own work, identify where it goes wrong, and help fix it • Use AI models day to day to prepare returns, draft SARS correspondence, and check your own work, and apply sound judgment about when their output is correct What You Bring • BCom in Accounting or Taxation, National Diploma in Accounting, or equivalent • 1 to 3 years in a tax practice or an accounting practice with tax work, including at least two full filing seasons and provisional tax cycles • Hands-on SARS eFiling experience including registrations, ITR12, IRP6, ITR14, and EMP501 submissions, and responding to verification letters • Experience drafting objections or SARS audit responses for review by a senior • Working knowledge of the Income Tax Act and the Tax Administration Act including capital gains, provisional tax, and the dispute rules • Able to manage your own portfolio of returns through filing season with limited supervision • Strong Excel skills including lookups, reconciliations, and tax workings • Detail-oriented and deadline-driven with a clear understanding that SARS dates and penalties do not move • Clear, polite written English for client requests, SARS letters, and objections • Genuine interest in AI and in breaking tax work into clear, teachable steps • Comfortable working with AI models and able to check and challenge what they produce Nice to Have • Experience running objections and appeals independently including applying the dispute rules, building the argument, and anticipating how SARS will respond • Experience handling SARS audits especially VAT and PAYE including judging what to disclose and when to push back • Experience with trusts and IT3(t) submissions including distributions, vesting, and attribution rules • Experience spotting when donations tax and dividends tax apply such as loans to trusts or dividends in specie • Exposure to SARS Customs registrations and processes • A SAIT Tax Technician or Tax Professional designation, or working towards one • Experience with payroll systems such as Sage VIP, Sage Pastel Payroll, or SimplePay • Exposure to practice tax software and Xero, Sage, or Pastel client systems How to Apply Please include: • Your updated resume • A short Loom video (1 to 2 minutes) introducing yourself, describing your SARS eFiling and tax compliance experience, and walking through a return or SARS dispute you have handled from start to finish Only candidates who submit a Loom video will be moved to the next step of the hiring process. If you are a detail-oriented junior tax practitioner with hands-on SARS experience, a solid grasp of the South African tax compliance cycle, and a genuine interest in shaping how AI learns to do tax work, this role gives you the ownership, the AI partner, and the direct impact to do your best work. Application Process Overview Our comprehensive selection process ensures we find the right fit for both you and our clients: Initial Application - Submit your application and complete our prequalifying questions Video Introduction - Record an video introduction to showcase your communication skills and work experience Role-Specific Assessment - Complete a homework assignment tailored to the position (if applicable) Recruitment Interview - Initial screening with our talent team Executive Interview - Meet with senior leadership to discuss role alignment Client Interview - Final interview with the client team you'd be supporting Background & Reference Check - Professional reference verification Job Offer - Successful candidates receive a formal offer to join the team Each stage is designed to evaluate your fit for the role while giving you insights into our company culture and expectations. We'll keep you informed throughout the process and provide feedback at each step. Originally posted on Himalayas