Specialist creative and cultural sector tax consultant Mxolisi Sehoole warns artists to get their house in order as tax authorities are circling

This is as the clock to file income tax for 2025 is ticking and increasingly artists find themselves in a sticky situation with the South African tax authority looking for its money.

By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

The South African Tax revenues services season for filing personal Tax is now, and creatives have been warned that the time to try and delay or outrightly dodges paying taxes are over as the tax authorities have upped their tax collection ability, and those earning income through their artistic activities are also liable to pay taxes, just like anyone else, warns accountant Mxolisi Sehoole. His company Sehoole & Associates has found its niche in offering accounting services to artists and content creators. The company has been offering tailored services to the creative and cultural industries for years now. Speaking to CITYLIFE/ARTS in an interview this week, the University of Johannesburg B.com accounting graduate, who before he launched his company worked in the corporate sector, including working for the Auditor-General of South Africa, a job that saw him work with municipal entities, said that artists and other creatives, such as musicians and content creators – a booming sector in South Africa and globally due to the opportunities offered by the evolution of technology, must now know that not complying with tax authorities posed a significant risk in their business.

“The South African Revenue Services has beefed up their tax collection and detection staff, as well as using Artificial Intelligence technology to track tax dodgers and follow what is due to them. It is therefore prudent for those who work in the creative sector to know that there is nowhere to hide, and it is advisable for artists to make sure that their house is in order when it comes to accounting matters,” Sehoole advised.

Sehoole revealed that in recent months his company has been asked to assist desperate artists who have found themselves in a sticky situation with SARS as the tax authority continues to knock on the doors of those who owe it money as a result of its beefed up tax collection machinery, including the use of artificial intelligence, seeking the expertise of third parties as well as beefing up its own internal staff to perfect and make efficient its tax collection, detection and tracking those who try to avoid paying tax.

Sehoole gave an example of a complicated case his company is currently dealing with. He however withheld the name of the client, other than saying that it is a creative, who is a content creator.

“This client is a content creator who is now sitting with a debt of R1 million, money that SARS says is owed to it by the individual, including penalties and interest. This person is a content creator and this money SARS insists was earned by this particular creator in 2021, during the Covid pandemic. We are trying to assist them to get their house in order,” Sehoole said. He explained that situation like this could be avoided by engaging a tax expert who can advise how best to handle money earned through content creation instead of just banking the money into one’s personal account instead of a business account, where for example certain expenses related to business activities to how that content is created could be tax deductible.

He however added that his company is confident in assisting that individual to get out of this big issue by handling the whole thing in a professional way with the tax authorities.

He however added that his company has now come up with ways of assisting especially those who work in the creative sector, such as visual artists, musicians and content creators by pioneering a flexible payment system for accounting services, suited to the nature and character of how people in the sector earn their money.

“We have introduced a system whereby we have a contract with a creative that is one year long. We ask that the client pays 30% in advance and the rest they can pay during the duration of the contract, while my company will do all their accounting, including filing Annual Tax Returns for SARS, CIPC annual Returns and Beneficiary Ownership, while the artists can focus on what they do best, which is creating. We also send the clients reminders and constantly communicate to them in relation to compliance issues that may come up during the duration of the contract,” Sehoole said.

Sehoole is a much sought after when it comes to tax issues in the creative and cultural sector, including giving speeches and addressing creatives about tax matters.

on Monday, July, 4, 2025, he has been engaged to address a group of artists at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in Sandton, where he will give an income tax literacy lecture to the artists who have been selected by the organiers.

Recently some artists have found themselves in a rabbit hole when they were excluded from consideration for funding by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in its Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE), and one of the issues that came up and caused massive outcry by artists is the issue of compliance such as annual filling of CIPC Annual returns and the newly introduced Beneficiary, without which a company could now be deregistered automatically. And that is besides DSAC’s now legendary flip flopping when it comes to the need for efficient and transparent funding processes.

The demand for his company’s services within the creative sector keeps on increasing is more and more artists are become aware of the need to be tax compliant. From an initial team of one, Sehoole &Associates now boasts a team of three- Sehoole Managing Director with Lebohang Tshehlana holding the position of Operations manager and Maikeleng Ledimo Junior Associate.