SARS tax season opens on 7 July

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has urged all taxpayers to prepare their documentation early to check their assessments and to avoid last-minute delays when submitting an income-tax return.

PICTURE: Pixabay

SARS announced that the official start of the 2025 Filing Season, will start from 7 July to 20 October 2025.

It said the category of taxpayers who are automatically assessed will receive notification from SARS from 7 – 20 July 2025. Taxpayers who do not receive an Auto Assessment notification from SARS and are required to file a tax return can do so from 21 July 2025. Filing Season will close on 20 October 2025 for non-provisional individuals.

‘’Taxpayers must ensure that their banking details are correct and updated, enabling efficient processing of refunds. To change bank details, taxpayers should first check that their security contact details (email and cell phone number) are up to date on SARS eFiling. NOTE: there is no need to do anything if your banking details and security contact details have not changed,’’ it said in a statement.

SARS says taxpayers whose tax matters are ‘less complicated’ are auto-assessed.

‘’Auto Assessment is made possible by the availability of third-party data received from employers, financial institutions, retirement annuity fund administrators, medical-aid schemes, and more. This enables SARS to complete the tax declaration on behalf of this segment of taxpayers and issue them with an Auto Assessment.’’

‘’Taxpayers in the Auto Assessment category do not have to do anything if their assessments are correct. Taxpayers of the opinion that SARS has not captured all the necessary information are free to make changes on their tax returns and submit the missing information through eFiling by 20 October 2025. Taxpayers owed a refund will receive it in 72 hours if all their information is correct. If they owe tax, they must pay SARS through their banks (details are given below),’’ it added.

Auto Assessment will work as follows:

From 7 July, SARS will send an email or SMS to taxpayers notifying them of that their assessment has been automatically calculated.

Refunds will be paid directly into the taxpayer’s bank account within 72 business hours after the notification. Money owed to SARS must be paid to SARS through online banking, eFiling, or the SARS MobiApp by the stipulated date.

Taxpayers can access their auto assessments through any of SARS’s channels, such as SARS MobiApp or eFiling. Taxpayers should review and verify the completeness and accuracy of the information that resulted in the Auto Assessment.

Taxpayers who are satisfied that the auto-assessment is correct do not have to do anything further.

If the taxpayer finds that there is missing or inaccurate information, pertaining to either income or expenses, which may have affected the outcome, it must be declared to SARS by submitting a tax return in the normal way.

Taxpayers Who Must File a Tax Return (Non-Provisional and Other Taxpayers) can do so from 21 July 2025 until 20 October 2025. With the exception of Trusts, Provisional taxpayers can submit returns from 21 July 2025 until 19 January 2026.  Trusts can start filing tax returns from 20 September 2025 until 19 January 2026.

SARS reminded taxpayers that their submissions must comply with regulations and deadlines to avoid penalties.

 

Done By: Mitchum George