Online Bookings

Taxpayers and Tax Practitioners should book an appointment before visiting a branch,

Tax Relief for Employers

SARS has published detailed Questions & Answers for the COVID-19 tax relief for PAYE. See our FAQs on the Tax Relief measures,

High call volumes

We are experiencing high call volumes and appreciate your patience during this time.

31 May Employers’ deadline

SARS reminds employers of their obligation to submit payroll information on or before the deadline of Sunday 31 May 2020. Compliant employers make it easier for their employees,

Trade Statistics

SARS released trade statistics for April 2020 recording a trade deficit of R35.02 billion attributable to exports of R53.01 billion and imports of R88.03 billion,

eFiling downtime

Due to ongoing maintenance, eFiling may not be available on Wednesday, 16 October 2019, from 19:00 to 20:00. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

VAT Notice of Registration

VAT vendors can now obtain a VAT notice of registration on eFiling, by following a few easy steps. The VAT vendor needs to be a registered eFiler,

Supporting documents

No need to go to a branch to submit supporting documents if you are not an eFiler, you can now submit through this website,

Third Party Data

Third Party Data Annual Submissions is now open from 15 April to 31 May 2020. Banks, medical schemes, fund administrators etc. are required to send returns to SARS,

Waiving of penalties

Businesses that are incapable of making payment due to the COVID-19 disaster, may apply to defer tax payments without incurring penalties by emailing us,

VAT Refunds Relief

VAT vendors currently registered to file VAT returns on a bi-monthly may now file VAT returns on a monthly basis, thereby allowing the earlier unlocking of refunds,

Temporary branch closures

Some SARS branch offices may be closed from time-to-time, please see the list,

Forgot eFiling password?

We realise that you only file your tax once a year so it’s easy to forget your password. So if you’ve forgotten your eFiling password, here’s some help,

No need to go to a Branch

Available on eFiling: Enquire on debt outstanding and make a payment, enquire on returns outstanding, Tax Compliance Status, Request Statement of Account,

Tax Directives easier now

Tax Practitioners and Individuals may now apply for IRP3(b) and IRP3(c) Tax Directives through their eFiling profiles rather than having to going into a SARS Branch,

Pretoria, Thursday 28 January 2021 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has noted with deep concern the unprecedented health challenge manifested through COVID-19 with the accompanying loss of lives and livelihoods. SARS wishes to convey its sincere and deepest condolences to those that have lost their loved ones and wish a speedy recovery to those who are convalescing at home or in hospital.

In light of these challenges, SARS has taken a decision to extend the Filing Season deadline for provisional taxpayers, which is currently set for 29 January 2021, to 15 February 2021.

In line with SARS’ communication on steps taken to prevent the spread of COVID19 and protect both the taxpayers and SARS staff, taxpayers are encouraged to use eFiling or the SARS MobiApp.

SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said, “The decision to extend the Filing Season,  was taken with due consideration of the traumatic effects being experienced by taxpayers who have lost loved ones, as well as businesses who have lost staff, during the devastating second wave of Covid-19.

The Commissioner also urges taxpayers who received auto-assessment notices last year but who have not yet accepted the auto-assessments, or edited and filed a return in response to the notice, to make use of this opportunity to do so.

The Commissioner urged all these taxpayers to comply with their legal obligations by 15 February 2021, as it is vital that all taxpayers remain compliant. Failure to comply with their legal obligations will result in administrative penalties being levied.

He added that SARS has a legislative mandate to collect revenue due and to ensure compliance across all segments of taxpayers, as well as traders in the Customs arena.

“While SARS believes that most taxpayers and traders comply voluntarily and want to do the right thing, we also have measures we can use to enforce compliance. However, such enforcement always remains a last resort,” the Commissioner added.

Pretoria, Monday 18 January 2021 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) wishes to apologise unreservedly to all taxpayers for the disruption in services brought about by the termination of support of the Adobe Flash Player platform on 12 January 2021.

SARS duly took note of Adobe’s notice to discontinue support for some of its products beyond December 2020. With this in mind, SARS already migrated the vast majority of its most critical forms to alternative platforms, most notably HTML5. For the reasons set out below, SARS had, until now, focused on the major tax types with the highest volumes. These are largely completed and operationally stable. While noting the discontinuation of Adobe Flash Player support, we erred in our interpretation that the functionality would continue beyond the support date.  This error has created frustration to many taxpayers to whom we owe an apology.

 
The events leading to the unfortunate disruption and the remedial actions that have been taken as well as those that are under way are detailed below.

 
SARS had planned the migration of all forms as a priority. However, as part of its mandate SARS administers many taxes and compliance mechanisms, which spawn many submission requirements and interactions that necessitate the capturing and submitting of data through many different forms.

In addition to the high number of forms that are required to be migrated from Adobe Flash Player to the chosen HTML5 platform, the migration itself is very complex and requires the development, testing and deployment of new forms. These contain many data fields, which are underpinned by thousands of technical, administrative and complex business rules to ensure integrity of data, efficient processing and accurate assessment results. It is due to this complexity and the need to deliver properly tested and working forms that SARS prioritized the major tax types with the highest volumes with the rest planned for 2021

In light of these ongoing challenges, SARS will implement the following remedial actions to assist taxpayers still experiencing issues:

1. SARS has set up an eBooking system, which is accessible immediately, through our website on www.sars.gov.za in order to assist taxpayers facing challenges on how to navigate our system and where to find the necessary documents.

2. Affected taxpayers also have immediate access to a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document on our website www.sars.gov.za to help them in fulfilling their legal obligations. The FAQs only deals with Adobe Flash Player issues.

3. By next week, SARS will establish a dedicated toll-free number specifically to provide further assistance to taxpayers. This number is only to be used resolve the Adobe Flash Player challenges. For other enquiries, taxpayers are encouraged to use the SARS Contact Centre.

4. SARS has been actively engaging the Recognised Controlling Bodies (RCBs). SARS and the RCBs are working together to find workable solutions for the tax practitioner segment. SARS has commissioned a virtual support hub to provide technical support to this cohort of taxpayers in the interim. The virtual support hub will be effective next week.

It is worth noting that over the past year SARS has already migrated several high volume forms to an alternative platform, namely HTML5.

In line with the service commitment of SARS, the organisation will spare no effort in resolving these matters as speedily as possible.

For more information, please contact [email protected] ​​

To access this page in different languages click on the links below:

PRETORIA, THURSDAY 31 DECEMBER 2020 – The South African Revenue Service, with support of the National Treasury, have published the 13th annual edition of the Tax Statistics.

The 2020 edition provides an overview of tax revenue collections and tax return information for the 2016 to 2019 tax years, as well as the 2015/16 to 2019/2020 fiscal years.

See the full statement here.

Pretoria, 22 December 2020 – The South Revenue Service (SARS) has noted with deep concern the alarming spread of COVID19 infections because of a second wave that has enveloped our country. President Cyril Ramaphosa aptly articulated these concerns during his nationwide address on Monday 14 December 2020. Taking into account the transmission risk that COVID-19 poses, SARS has decided to put preventative restrictions in place.

We therefore wish to inform members of the public that all SARS offices will be closed from Thursday 24 December 2020 until Monday 4 January 2021. This two-week period of the physical lockdown of offices is SARS’ contribution to curb any further possible spread of COVID-19 infections among taxpayers and our staff.
However, in line with SARS’s mandate to service all members of the public, all offices will operate remotely via our digital channels. Branches will also engage with taxpayers via the use of virtual meetings using Microsoft Teams. No member of the public will unfortunately be allowed at any SARS branch from 24 December 2020 to 4 January 2021. 

As part of SARS’s commitment to all members of the public, please take note of the following:

• All existing branch appointments will be honoured
• Branch appointments can only be made via the SARS website
• All new bookings via the SARS site will be honoured via a virtual engagement (Microsoft Teams or a telephonic engagement)
• The SARS Contact Centre will continue to service any queries from members of the public.
• All South African borders manned by SARS customs officials will continue to operate during this lockdown period. Please note that strict social distance measures will apply and it will be compulsory for members of the public to wear masks when entering any SARS building or engaging with any customs officials. The sanitising of hands is also compulsory. No access will be allowed without complying with these protocols.

These measures are being untaken with the wellbeing of SARS employees and all South African citizens in mind and we appeal to each taxpayer to take this call to adherence very seriously. With the co-operation of each citizen, we will be able to overcome this pandemic.

We will review this decision and communicate in advance should we decide to extend this arrangement. We thank taxpayers for their cooperation and understanding as we navigate this challenging period.

We wish all citizens a joyful and safe festive period, and call on them to act responsibly during this difficult time.

For further information, please contact SARS via [email protected].

To access this page in different languages click on the links below: