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What supporting documents do I need to submit to SARS?


Posted 28 May 2018

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. If you have a Y in the block (and we are seeing this more and more frequently) it means that SARS wants to see evidence or back up which supports the amounts you entered on your tax return.



We see a wide variety of document submissions, which are often, rejected by SARS much to the dismay of disgruntled taxpayers. If anything is unclear or does not tally back to your tax return, SARS may well disallow the tax deduction altogether and issue you a revised assessment with a whole lot more tax for you to pay. It will then be up to you to dispute the assessment and submit documents again, which will delay the finalisation of your tax return and can take many months to resolve. It is therefore very important to be as thorough as possible when submitting supporting documents to SARS.

To clear up any confusion, we have compiled the table below, which lists the most common expenses, and the exact documents that SARS requires based on the type of taxpayer you may be.


 Expense Sole Proprietor/freelancer/independent contractor Commission earner (commission income makes up more than 50% of your remuneration)

  Salaried employee
Depreciation on business assets (e.g. laptop)






Proof of purchase (invoice)


Calculation showing how wear and tear was calculated and apportioned between business and personal use		 Letter from employer stating you can use personal laptop for work

Proof of purchase (invoice)

Calculation showing how wear and tear was calculated and apportioned between business and personal use		 Letter from employer stating you can use personal laptop for work

Proof of purchase (invoice)

Calculation showing how wear and tear was calculated and apportioned between business and personal use
Travel  Logbook with details of business mileage


Vehicle purchase invoice  (if applicable)


Fuel, maintenance, license, insurance Invoices 		 Logbook with details of business mileage

Vehicle purchase invoice
(if applicable)

Fuel, maintenance, license, insurance Invoices 		 *Logbook with details of business mileage

Vehicle purchase invoice
(if applicable)

Fuel, maintenance, license, insurance Invoices (if actual costs are used)
 Uber Costs   Uber receipt (email) Uber receipt (email)  Cannot Claim 
 Medical Costs  Medical Aid Tax Certificate


Invoices from doctor/pharmacy for qualifying expenditure not submitted to the Medical Aid		 Medical Aid Tax Certificate

Invoices from doctor/pharmacy for qualifying expenditure not submitted to the Medical Aid		 Medical Aid Tax Certificate

Invoices from doctor/pharmacy for qualifying expenditure not submitted to the Medical Aid
Bank Charges   Bank Statement reflecting bank charges for your business account  Bank Statement reflecting bank charges for your business account   Cannot Claim
Entertainment  Schedule of entertainment expenses, showing details for each claim eg. names of people, purpose of meeting, etc





Restaurant invioices/receipts		 Schedule of entertainment expenses, showing details for each claim eg. names of people, purpose of meeting, etc

Restaurant invioices/receipts		  Cannot Claim 
Telephone Sample of actual monthy invoices



Calculation showing how the total expense was apportioned between business and personal use

 Sample of actual monthy invoices


Calculation showing how the total expense was apportioned between business and personal use

 Cannot Claim 
Home Office Calculation showing how apportionment was calculated



Actual invoices to support claim e.g electricity and water, rates, bond mortgage statement, rental invoice,etc

 Letter from employer stating taxpayer can work from home and % time spent there


**Calculation showing how apportionment was calculated

**Actual invoices to support claim e.g electricity and water, rates, bond mortgage statement, rental invoice,etc

 Letter from employer stating taxpayer can work from home and % time spent there


**Calculation showing how apportionment was calculated

**Actual invoices to support claim e.g electricity and water, rates, bond mortgage statement, rental invoice,etc

*Salaried employee can only claim travel expenditure if a travel allowance (source code 3701 or 3702), or use of company car (3802 or 3816) fringe benefit, is received.
** Commission earners and salaried employees need to meet certain criteria in order to deduct home office expenses Click here.

Please take note of the following guidelines:

• SARS will NOT accept schedules or lists of expenses alone
• You must submit scanned copies of the actual invoices/receipts
• Always make sure that you reconcile your supporting documents back to the total expense you claimed on your tax return.
• Submit all calculations and make sure they are clear and easy for SARS to review e.g home office, wear and tear etc

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