Written by Alicia
Posted 20 July 2023
SARS have recently introduced a new way to track your tax return online via the SARS website.
See TaxTim's step-by-step guide to help you nagivate this new process:
1. Please go to the SARS website www.sars.gov.za click on "Contact Us"
2. Scroll down the page then click o...
Written by Alicia
Updated 10 July 2023
Step 1:
If you have been auto-assessed by SARS, you may see the screen below when you log into SARS eFiling.
Please click on "View".
You may also see this screen:
If you ...
Written by Nicci
Updated 4 July 2023
We are starting to see some common trends whereby taxpayers’ expenses are disallowed because the documents submitted are falling short of SARS’s requirements. To avoid unnecessary frustration and time wasted in raising disputes, read on to see if any of these areas apply to you.
Travel deduction
In prior years, the submission of a logbook detailing your business mileage used to be sufficient to justify your travel claim. In recent years howev...
Written by Nicci
Posted 14 June 2023
The 2023 filing season opens this year at 8pm on Friday, 7 July. The countdown's on, it's almost here!
It is important to be aware that the season is shorter than prior years. This means that SARS are giving you less time to file your return.
Important Filing Deadlines
23 October 2023: non-provisional taxpayer (i.e. salaried employees)
24 January 2024: provisional taxpayer (i.e self-employed, rental earners, freelancers, ...
Written by Alicia
Updated 14 June 2023
Last year, we noticed that many taxpayers filed their tax returns before the tax season officially began (i.e July). However, doing so caused delays and problems with their tax refunds.
There are only three specific instances where you can file your tax return (ITR12) directly on eFiling before tax season starts:
Written by Evan
Updated 8 June 2023
TaxTim and SARS use all the financial information you provide to work out the most accurate estimate of your potential refund (or tax liability) for the current tax season. However, there may be some information we don’t have access to that won’t be included in the estimate of your tax refund or tax liability.
Information from previous tax seasons
Just like the SARS eFiling tax calculator, TaxTim doesn’t take into account provisional tax ...
Written by Vee
Updated 30 May 2023
You’ve been diligent with your tax obligations, you’ve paid your PAYE (employees tax) each month without fail, you’ve kept all the supporting documents for your deduction claims and you’ve carefully filled out your tax return, making sure you’ve put all the right amounts in all the right places, against all the right codes. (Pssst, if you used TaxTim to help you complete your tax return, you wouldn’t have had to worry about all the right places and codes because that’s all automated for you)...
Written by Nicci
Updated 22 May 2023
SARS has given you just 40 working days to submit your tax return. If you received your auto-assessment at the beginning of July, your time to submit has already expired. Auto-assessments issued on 4 July 2022, expired on 30 August 2022. Count your work days carefully. SARS is applying this rule very strictly. If you do nothing, your auto-assessment will very soon become FINAL.
For more on auto-assessments and their deadlines, please read
Written by Alicia
Posted 27 October 2022
If you received another email from TaxTim requesting SARS supporting documents, but you already sent these to SARS more than 21 business days ago, one of these four scenarios might be the reason you are still waiting:
Scenario 1:
You submitted the documents directly on SARS eFiling yourself, but you did not inform TaxTim. In this case, our system needs to be updated to reflect that you already submitted your documents.
Please log into your TaxTim profi...
Written by Patrick
Posted 18 October 2022
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says it will implement an "online traveller declaration system" that will go into effect on November 1, 2022. According to SARS, the new system will be applicable to all South Africans travelling abroad and says that it will simplify passenger movement at South African airports.
According to SARS, the system's goal is to collect travel information and in exchange, grant a traveller pass via email. It requires that all South Africans and residen...
Written by Nicci
Posted 24 June 2022
From 1 July to 4 July, SARS aims to issue auto-assessments to taxpayers who are due a refund.
The rest will be issued in batches up to 24 July.
Timing is Everything
If you receive an auto-assessment, you will have just 40 working days to request a tax return on TaxTim (or eFiling), complete and submit it. If you take no action within the ...
Written by Nicci
Posted 10 June 2022
The 2022 filing season opens on 1 July. Tick tock. That’s just around the corner.
It is important to be aware that the season is shorter than prior years. This means that SARS are giving you less time to file your return.
Important Filing Deadlines
24 October 2022: non-provisional taxpayer (i.e. salaried employees)
23 January 2023: provisional taxpayer (i.e self-employed, rental earners, freelancers, etc)
Auto-Assess...
Written by Nicci
Posted 10 June 2022
SARS is warning that those who fail to submit their tax return on time, will face harsh penalties. The period of leeway which applied to 2021 has now passed.
SARS announced a change to their legislation in December 2021 whereby they would levy administrative penalties to taxpayers who missed the filing deadline for one or more tax returns. Prior to this change, taxpayers only paid penalties when two or more returns were outstanding.
As a...
Written by Patrick
Posted 19 May 2022
The Public Servants Association (PSA) served SARS with a notice of strike action on Friday, 13 May 2022. The strike is due to take place on Wednesday, 25 May 2022.
The union is demanding a CPI plus 7% across the board, while the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) demands an increase of 11.5%. The unions and SARS hit a deadlock as SARS unashamedly made a final offer of a 0% increase.
If there is no resolution at the Com...
Written by Patrick
Posted 16 May 2022
According to SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter, some South Africans who came into money were eager to “display their wealth”, giving cause for SARS to look into the income of these individuals.
In many cases, SARS found that there was a major disconnect between the income that was being declared and the type of lifestyle that these individuals were leading, according to third-party data. These include social media platforms.
As we already know, people are often i...
Written by Patrick
Posted 16 May 2022
For months, SARS has been clear about its plan to clamp down on crypto investors. While many may be under the impression that crypto is going under the radar, SARS is firmly taking the position that it is not.
With luxury audits being the order of the day, SARS is continuously looking into those who live luxurious lifestyles, particular those who own luxury cars and crypto assets, without declaring their income to the revenue service.
In many cases, this income pertains to the...
Written by Patrick
Posted 23 February 2022
In 2020, about 2.2 million jobs were lost in South Africa and in 2021, that number is expected to double as a result of Covid-19. With that, we have found that there are many questions surrounding the subject of taxes and severance packages. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act states that your severance pay should include at least one week’s worth of remuneration for every full year of work. Your severance package may consist of your ...
Written by Vee
Posted 16 November 2021
Hundreds of thousands of South Africans are filing their annual tax returns and everyday people ask us “when will I get my refund from SARS?”.
Read more →
Written by Patrick
Posted 12 November 2021
If you’re an individual non-provisional taxpayer, make sure you file your tax return before or on the deadline of 2 December 2021.
SARS is warning that those who fail to submit on time, will face penalties. Legislation has changed and you will have to pay penalties in January 2022 if you have not submitted one or more of your returns. This means that if you file your 2021 return after the deadline, SARS will levy an admin penalty.
Before, you only paid penalties when two...
Written by Patrick
Posted 20 October 2021
Identity fraud happens when someone uses your personal information, such as your name and identity number, without your permission.
Criminals steal your identifying information from your home, car or wallet and even your rubbish bins and use your details to commit crime. Con artists can also get your personal and confidential information from the internet, social networking sites, emails, spoofed websites, Short Message Services (SMS) and unsolicited telephone calls.
It’...
Written by Patrick
Posted 18 June 2021
In the past SARS needed to prove that a taxpayer had committed a tax crime “willfully and without just cause” but the legislation has just been changed. The court can now find you guilty of a tax crime even in cases of negligence or even in a case where the taxpayer may have made a mistake.
The amended law separates non-compliance into two groups: the first is where the taxpayer’s intention is not considered, and the other group is where the taxpayer’s intentio...
Written by Nicci
Posted 14 June 2021
If SARS have issued you an Auto Assessment, you will need to follow these steps to reject it so that we can help you to complete and submit your return to SARS.
Read more →
Written by Nicci
Posted 10 March 2021
We are seeing many cases where taxpayers submit their documents to SARS, wait 21 working days (sometimes longer) only to receive a second letter on eFiling which requests the exact same documents again.
The letter we are referring to here is the generic SARS document request which looks like the below:
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) thanks you for submitting the revised income tax return for the 2018 tax period.
The revised information still does not match the information in the possession of the SARS and/or the income tax return has been identified for verification in terms of the Tax Administration Act....
Written by Patrick
Posted 24 January 2021
As early as July 2017, Adobe announced that Flash Player would be discontinued by 31 December 2020 and that Flash Player would block its Flash content by 12 January 2021
Read more →
Written by Nicci
Posted 14 October 2020
There is a new scam going around this tax season, SARS has made us aware of it and we would like to make sure you know about it too.
Read more →
