You must tell SARS that your account has changed

When you switch bank accounts, don’t forget to inform the taxman. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) recently issued a new guide to updating your banking details. This is to reduce the risk of refunds being paid into the wrong account and to streamline the process, which has been onerous in the past, says Marc Sevitz, the chief financial officer of Tax Tim, a website that helps you to fill in your tax return.

A change of bank details can now be done:

◆ In person at a SARS branch (SARS still prefers this way);

◆ Via eFiling (Go to “Maintain taxpayer registered particulars” menu);

◆ When submitting your ITR12 (income tax return) – you can change the details on the form itself; or ◆ At a SARS mobile tax unit. You can’t change your bank details at SARS via phone, fax, email, post or dropbox.

SARS will only accept a bank account that is a savings, cheque or transmission account in your own name. SARS won’t accept a credit card, bond or foreign account.

You must submit the following supporting documents:

◆ An original identity document, driver’s licence or passport, or a certified copy thereof, (a black and white copy is best).

◆ Original bank statement or ATM/internet-generated statement or Absa eStamped statement, not more than three months old, which confirms the account-holder’s legal name, bank name, account number, account type and branch code.

◆ Where a new bank account has been opened and a bank statement isn’t yet available, an original letter from the bank, not older than one month, on the bank’s letterhead with the original bank stamp reflecting the date on which the bank account was opened.

◆ A copy or an original proof of address (reflecting your name and surname), such as an account from Telkom, a municipality, an educational institution, eToll account, major retailer, a court order or a traffic fine. These documents must be less than three months old.

◆ SARS will also accept as proof of address a current and valid lease agreement, your SABC TV licence, motor vehicle licence or insurance and investment documents (for example, documents from your short-term insurer, life assurer, medical scheme, funeral policy, share or unit trust investment statement). These documents must be less than one year old.

If you don’t have a proof-ofaddress document because you are renting and the utility bills are in the landlord’s name, you need to complete a CRA01 form (you can download it from SARS’s website), which states where you live. Your landlord would need to complete sections of it as well. – Information supplied by TaxTim

Retail banking has become more competitive, particularly for the low and middle market segments, says Trudi Makhaya, an economist and coauthor of a case study on the experience of Capitec Bank as an entrant to the retail banking industry.

“With the entry of Capitec [in 2001], and its accessible and transparent business model, newly banked and badly banked consumers found an institution that spoke to their needs. Capitec proved the commercial case for serving the lowincome, or, more broadly, mass market, and this prompted a competitive response from incumbent banks. This has made banking more transparent and competitive, as can be seen from falling bank charges for low-cost accounts. But there is still Panel, the paper says.

Walter Volker, the chief executive of the Payments Association of South Africa, says there is provision for an industry-level centralised, automated switching system that facilitates the re-routing of debit orders. In other words, the switching is not done by your new or old bank, but by a central operator such as Bankserv. But there hasn’t been enough support for such a system from the banks, because they have staff members who handle the switching of accounts.

Makhaya’s paper says the Reserve Bank should also consider a process where consumers are not liable for interest, penalty fees and other charges incurred due to delays in switching accounts. The sharing of Fica information, with clear guidelines on where liability lies in case of contraventions (the original or second bank), would also ease switching.”