Pretoria, 13 November 2019 – Tax season for individual taxpayers who want to file at a branch closed on the 31 October 2019. SARS wishes to thank taxpayers for their submissions thus far and is encouraged by the 3 882 111 personal income tax returns filed on a digital platform as well as at a branch. These returns include submissions for both current and previous years.

Filing a tax return on any of the digital platforms, namely, SARS MobiApp and eFiling platforms for non-provisional taxpayers will close on 04 December. This gives the taxpayers who file electronically an extra three weeks to file. Provisional taxpayers have until 31 January on eFiling.

With digital filing still available, SARS is expecting an estimated 1 744 535 as of 8 November 2019 of the outstanding returns to still be submitted through these channels.  SARS wants to remind taxpayers who are yet to file, that Tax season for 2019 has been designed to make filing a return simple and easy. 

Taxpayers are urged to use the opportunity and support available before 04 December, with the contact centre operating between 08:00 and18:00 on 25 – 29 November, and between 08:00 and 13:00 on Saturday, 30 November.

Should the extended electronic filing period not be used, administrative penalties will be levied for every month the return is outstanding.  The non-filing of returns is a criminal offence.

Taxpayers with outstanding returns can download the SARS MobiApp from the Playstore or Appstore and easily perform the following actions:

1. Register for SARS eFiling,

2. Submit a return,

3. Use the phone camera to upload supporting documents,

4. Retrieve their username or reset their password and

5. View their Notice of Assessment (ITA34), among other services.

6. Request a call-back to get the assistance of a SARS tax agent.

SARS has also given eFiling a major refresh to make navigation much easier and allow for flexibility to file from any location.

Taxpayers who meet all of the following criteria need not submit a return:

1. Their total employment income for the year before tax is not more than R500 000

2. They only receive employment income from ONE EMPLOYER for the full tax year

3. They have no other form of INCOME (e.g. car allowance, business income, and rental income, taxable interest or income from another job)

4. They don’t have any additional allowable tax related deductions to claim (e.g. medical expenses, retirement annuity contributions and travel expenses).

Should taxpayers visit a branch with a personal income tax return filing query, they will be assisted with self-filing via the MobiApp or eFiling platforms.  Taxpayers with smartphones will be required to download the SARS MobiApp before they can commence filing.