Individual tax filing season opens

TAXPAYERS can, as of Friday, submit their returns as the individual filing season officially kicks off.

The season will run until 24 October and the South African Revenue Service (Sars) will again automatically assess a significant number of people.

Last year, the revenue service sent out 3.4 million auto assessments, with more than 2.2 million taxpayers accepting and more than 1.5 million accepting without any changes.

‘This represents a 74% acceptance rate of a new service offering. Regrettably, more than 630 000 taxpayers neither accepted nor edited their returns,’ said Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter.

This process was introduced in 2020 to limit the queues at Sars branches and observe social distancing regulations following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sars auto assesses based on third-party data received from employers, financial institutions, medical schemes and retirement fund administrators.

'If you agree with the auto assessment, you need not do anything further, the return will be regarded as submitted and final.

'If you are not in agreement with the assessment, you can access your tax return via eFiling or the Sars MobiApp, complete the return, and file it.

'This must be done within 40 business days from the date your assessment was issued,' said Sars in a statement.

Taxpayers who are not auto assessed will be able to submit their returns through the eFiling system or at a branch by appointment.

‘Despite the measurable progress, the organisation will have to work to continually improve our service culture and standards, expand taxpayer education offerings, and promote the online platforms and digital offerings we have created to interact with taxpayers, among other things,’ said Kieswetter.