Written by Alicia
Updated 15 June 2026
SARS collected more than R2 trillion in net revenue for the 2025/26 financial year, supported by stronger compliance measures and improved data matching. Let’s unpack what fixed amount administrative penalties are, why they are issued, and what you can do if you’ve received one.
Why SARS Issues Administrative Penalties
Many taxpayers are unaware that SARS may require them to submit an annual income tax return, even if they are unemployed, living ab...
Written by Nicci
Updated 10 June 2026
SARS have recently become a lot stricter about levying administrative penalties. These are penalties for missing the deadline to submit your tax return. You can read about these recent changes in the law here.
If you have outstanding/un-filed tax returns from prior years, chances are high that SARS will have slapped on administrative penalties.
You may have recentl...
Written by Alicia
Updated 3 June 2026
In previous years, it was relatively easy to add a company to your eFiling profile, whether it was an Organization or Tax Practitioner profile.
However, since early last year, SARS has changed the procedure. Now, to add a company to your profile, you need to add a registered representative. In order to do this, you must send a request to SARS along with the following documents each time you want to represent a new company:
Written by Alicia
Posted 1 June 2026
The wait is over! SARS has officially announced the filing dates for the 2026 Tax Season.
Auto-Assessments: 1 July – 12 July 2026Auto-assessments will commence on 1 July 2026 and run until 12 July 2026. If your tax affairs are relatively straightforward, SARS may automatically assess you during this period.
An auto-asse...
Written by Alicia
Updated 26 May 2026
Please read the steps below to update your contact details on your SARS eFilng profile:
1. Go to www.sarsefiling.co.za
2. Log into your eFiling profile:
3. Click on
Written by Alicia
Posted 11 May 2026
Written by Vee
Updated 11 May 2026
Updated: SARS confirms the annual TFSA limit is now R46,000 from 1 March 2026. The lifetime limit remains R500,000, unused annual limits do not roll over, and excess contributions are taxed at 40%.
As a nation, South Africa does rather poorly on the savings front. With the majority living near or below the breadline, there’s not much to save when you’re more concerned with just getting through the month.
Our high levels of consumer debt, combined w...
Written by Alicia
Posted 5 May 2026
With the 2026 tax season approaching, many clients have been asking whether they really need to submit an annual income tax return this tax year.
Our answer remains the same: yes, you should still file.
Even if you believe you may not be required to submit, it's always safer to do so. If SARS later determines that you were required to submit a return and you did not do so, you could face administrative non-compliance penalties....
Written by Alicia
Updated 22 April 2026
SARS Timelines
SARS operates within specific timelines to comply with the rules outlined in the Tax Administration Act and the commitments detailed in their service charter.
However, these timelines are not easily accessible on the SARS website, leaving many of our users needing to contact the helpdesk for updates on their submissions.
To assist you, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of these timelines:
Auto-Assessment<...
Written by Nicci
Updated 22 April 2026
After submission of your tax return, when you receive your tax assessment (ITA34) from SARS, you need to scan down to the block “Compliance Information” to see if SARS requires anything further from you. You will see “Selected for audit or verification” with a Y or N (Yes or No) next to it. If you have a N, you can breathe a sigh of relief and consider yourself fortunate that SARS probably doesn’t require anything further from you for this tax year. (You should h...
Written by Evan
Updated 3 March 2026
SARS 2025 tax season dates:
21 July 2025 to 20 October 2025: individual (non-provisional) taxpayers
21 July 2025 to 19 January 2026: provisional taxpayers
If you earn less than R500 000 in a tax year and fulfil a series of complicated criteria, you may not have to file a tax return in 2025.
However, we advise you to take GREAT CARE here, and understand your duties properly, because if you don't, you may suffer for it later on.
Here are the top 5 reasons why you should not skip filing your tax return this season:
Read more →
Written by Ursula
Posted 9 February 2026
If you’re not receiving your SARS eFiling OTP, you’re not alone. This usually happens when SARS has an old cellphone number or email address on record.
The good news?
You can update your SARS contact details directly from the SARS home page — without logging in.
Below is a simple, step-by-step guide to help you fix this and start receiving your OTP code again.
Written by Patrick
Posted 8 December 2025
There’s been a lot of talk this week about the government's proposal to introduce a national 20% tax on online gambling. The news spread quickly, but most articles stopped at the headline. Very few explained how the tax would actually be calculated, who pays it, how it connects to existing provincial taxes, and what this means for everyday South Africans.
This guide breaks everything down in plain language, with simple examples and real numbers, so you can clearly understand what the proposal is about and how it might impact online betting going forward.
What exactly is being taxed?
The 20% tax does not apply to your personal winnings...
Written by Nicci
Posted 30 October 2025
If you were auto-assessed by SARS, your deadline to submit a tax return was 20 October 2025. If you still want to submit a Tax return but did not file by this date, don’t panic, you can still sort it out. But you can’t just file late. You first need to request an extension.
Step 1: Request an ExtensionGo to SARS eFiling and navigate to your Income Tax Work Page for 2025....
Written by Nicci
Posted 12 August 2025
TaxTim is aware of a tax directive issue between SARS and certain retirement funds where some fund transfers are incorrectly being treated as taxable events. One of the funds affected, Alexander Forbes, has confirmed that it is aware of the error and is working with SARS to resolve it.
The problem arises when retirement funds are transferred from one fund to another. These should not be taxed, but the error ha...
Written by Alicia
Posted 29 July 2025
SARS (the South African Revenue Service) has made recent changes regarding how foreign nationals and some non-resident taxpayers are handled in the tax system. These changes affect both current tax residents without SA ID numbers and individuals who have since left South Africa.
What's Changed?
Previously, SARS assessed taxpayers based on their location while earning income. This allowed many foreign nationals living and worki...
Written by Nicci
Posted 23 July 2025
If you are a non-resident for tax purposes but SARS still has you on record as a South African tax resident, you will face unexpected challenges when filing your tax return this season.
In prior years, SARS allowed taxpayers to file as non-residents even if their RAV01 profile still reflected them as residents. However, SARS has introduced changes this tax season: you will ...
Written by Marc
Updated 13 July 2025
Tax season always throws up some interesting and confusing calculations, but for many, the most confusing of all is how medical aid contributions and Out of Pocket medical expenses are treated.
Read more →
Written by Nicci
Updated 27 June 2025
You may be employed by someone, but for one reason or another- you don't receive an IRP5 and no amount of begging or pleading
Read more →
Written by Nicci
Posted 26 June 2025
SARS has made changes to the 2025 tax return to help taxpayers who ceased South African tax residency during the tax year. If this applies to you, your tax return will now include two parts:
Part 1: While you were still a South African tax resident
Written by Nicci
Updated 19 June 2025
Once you’ve completed filing your tax return, it’s possible to find that instead of getting money back
Read more →
Written by Alicia
Posted 3 June 2025
The 2025 filing season opens this year on Monday, 21 July.
This year, the tax season is even shorter than last year (and last year was shorter than the prior year!). This means that SARS are giving you less time to file your tax return.
Important Filing Deadlines
20 October 2025: Salary-only employees, who earn no other signficant income (i.e. non-provisional taxpayers) and ALL auto-assessed ...
Written by Patrick
Updated 3 June 2025
What is an auto-assessment?
This is an automatic assessment issued by SARS to certain taxpayers.
Read more →
Written by Nicci
Posted 23 May 2025
The Section 13sex residential unit deduction is a South African tax break for people who invest in new rental properties. If you build or buy new units to rent out, you can deduct part of the building cost from your taxable income each year. To qualify, you must own at least five new and unused residential units in South Africa that are used for rental.
You can claim 5% of the building cost
Written by Alicia
Posted 19 May 2025
If I run a small business and buy an asset like a vehicle for R200,000 (paid in full and not financed), can I deduct the full amount from my taxable income in the same year? Or do I only deduct the depreciation amount each year?
Also, do vehicles qualify for the 50/30/20% depreciation rule over three years like other small business assets?
Do Your Tax Return Easily