What’s New at SARS

17 May 2024 – Where an entity’s profile has been merged incorrectly, a request to unmerge can be made at a SARS branch office (remember to make an appointment).  Where an unmerge request has been finalised, the profiles or access associated with the unmerge will be amended, and the Recorded Representative needs to be confirmed.  This will imply that the previous Registered Representative must ensure their eFiling profile is correct and has been activated on eFiling, to successfully transact at a SARS Branch or via eFiling. The current prescribed process for the activation of the Registered Representative and related profiles, as documented for the Merge process, must be adhered to.

Important note:  A profile will not be able to perform a merge on eFiling if an unmerge request exists and is still in progress.

16 May 2024 – Binding General Rulings

• Binding General Ruling 71 – Section 18A Receipt: Donation of Property in Kind
• Binding General Ruling 70 – Issue of a Single Section 18A Receipt to a Donor Taxpayer for Multiple Bona Fide Donations

16 May 2024 – Achieving our Vision 2024 of a smart, modern SARS with unquestionable integrity that is trusted and admired is of paramount importance. Pivotal to the delivery of our vision are our digital platforms and technology infrastructure. To provide clarity and certainty, make it easy for taxpayers and traders to comply with their obligations and building public trust and confidence, our technology assets must demonstrate the highest levels of availability, robustness and security.

In accordance with our Vision and Strategic Objectives, which include modernising our systems to provide Digital and Streamlined online services, we are hard at work ensuring that our digital platforms and technology infrastructure are available, robust and secure, by performing regular upgrades, enhancements and maintenance.

Considering the above, SARS Digital platform upgrades are scheduled for Friday, 17 May 2024 from 18h00 to 22h00 .

During this time, you may experience intermittent service interruption on our eFiling and Customs Digital Platforms.

Responses (CUSRES messages) to transactions submitted during this time will be delayed, however, arrival and exit management functions are available at land border posts for all released declarations and manifests.

Stakeholders are therefore urged to submit all Goods Declarations (bills of entry) and Road Manifest, especially those deemed priority, by Friday, 17 May 2024 @ 17h00.

16 May 2024 – The SARS Bellville branch will be closed from today until further notice. More detail will be made available as soon as possible. Virtual appointments will be honoured but no physical visits or walk-ins. We will communicate alternative service points as soon as possible. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

14 May 2024 – The Legislative changes of Section 4(3D) of the Customs and Excise Act (Act 91 of 1964) provide for the publication of tariff determinations to assist traders who are required to make tariff self-determination when clearing goods of the same class or kind. The Tariff Classification documents have been revised to align the process with this Legislative change.

Customs Tariff Classification External Policy (SC-CR-A-09) and Excise Tariff Determination Policy (SE-TDN-02) have merged. The Excise document, TDN-02 – Tariff Determination Policy is withdrawn.

See the updated policy: SC-CR-A-09 – Tariff Classification – External Policy.

14 May 2024 – The state provides state warehouses for the safekeeping of goods. These are managed by Customs. The purpose of this list of unentered goods is to notify the importer, exporter and any other person that has interest in the goods that the goods have been taken up into the State warehouse and if they remain unentered they will be disposed in accordance with the provisions of the Customs & Excise Act.

See the latest Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods here.

13 May 2024 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendment notice R4818, as published in Government Gazette 50646 on 10 May 2024, are now available.

9 May 2024 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendments notice, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relates to the –

• imposition of provisional payments in relation to anti-dumping duties against the alleged dumping of active yeasts classifiable in tariff subheading 2102.10, originating in or imported from the Republic of Zimbabwe – ITAC Report No. 729.

Publication details will be made available later

8 May 2024 – Achieving our Vision 2024 of a smart, modern SARS with unquestionable integrity that is trusted and admired is of paramount importance. Pivotal to the delivery of our vision are our digital platforms and technology infrastructure. To provide clarity and certainty, make it easy for taxpayers and traders to comply with their obligations and building public trust and confidence, our technology assets must demonstrate the highest levels of availability, robustness and security.

In accordance with our Vision and Strategic Objectives, which include modernising our systems to provide Digital and Streamlined online services, we are hard at work ensuring that our digital platforms and technology infrastructure are available, robust and secure, by performing regular upgrades, enhancements and maintenance.

Considering the above, SARS Digital platform upgrades are scheduled for Saturday, 11 May 2024 from 20h00 to 00h30 Sunday, 12 May 2024.

During this time, you may experience intermittent service interruption on our eFiling, Tax and Customs Digital Platforms.

Responses (CUSRES messages) to transactions submitted during this time will be delayed.

Stakeholders are therefore urged to submit all Goods Declarations (bills of entry) and Road Manifest, especially those deemed priority, by Saturday, 11 May 2024 @ 14h00.

7 May 2024 – The state provides state warehouses for the safekeeping of goods. These are managed by Customs. The purpose of this list of unentered goods is to notify the importer, exporter and any other person that has interest in the goods that the goods have been taken up into the State warehouse and if they remain unentered they will be disposed in accordance with the provisions of the Customs & Excise Act.

See the latest Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods here.

7 May 2024 – The SARS Annual Performance Plan (APP) 2024/25 is now available. This APP builds on a strong foundation and our lasting dedication to the South African public, taxpayers and traders. In this financial year, SARS commits to:

1. Prioritise the most essential and beneficial strategic initiatives. The initiatives aim to use technology to help taxpayers and traders meet their tax obligations voluntarily, increase public trust and confidence in SARS, and to make SARS a lean, integrated, and data-driven organisation through the SARS Modernisation Programme.

2. Operationalise our aspiration that “tax just happens” guided by the principles of “Tax Administration 3.0” and “the best service is no service”. The end-state we aim to reach is a seamless taxpayer and trader experience that is clear, simple, easy, and accessible.

3. Further the implementation of our revenue management philosophy that conceptualises revenue as made up of revenue from the economy (including tax-policy interventions) and an efficient compliance programme. SARS will continue to explore opportunities to enhance base effects from compliance interventions by executing its compliance programme.

4. Build our people capability; strengthen the leadership bench; focus on achieving excellent operations management; implement our enhanced employee value proposition; and finalise organisational arrangements and focus on succession management.

See the full SARS Annual Performance Plan (APP) 2024/25 document here or visit the Annual reports & Strategic plans webpage.

7 May 2024 – An essential part of the delivery of SARS’s Vision 2024 is the organisation’s digital platforms and technology infrastructure. As such, on 20 April 2024, SARS successfully released the system enhancements to improve its efficiency and effectiveness in resolving Trust tax disputes. These enhancements will aid in providing clarity and certainty and make it easy for taxpayers and traders to comply with their obligations.

The Trust dispute process was always a manual process that was done using the ADR1 and ADR2 forms (alternative dispute resolution forms). The new enhancements for Trusts will entail the submission of disputes through eFiling or by visiting a SARS branch. Therefore, the current electronic functionalities for disputes, Requests for Reasons, Requests for Remission (RFR), Notices of Objection, and Notices of Appeal, now accommodate submissions by Trusts.

Both channels will assist taxpayers in capturing the RFR, or dispute, via a fully guided process.

However, it should be noted that Trusts that submitted any of the processes mentioned above before 20 April 2024 should still conclude their dispute through the manual process.

6 May 2024 – There is a new scam doing the rounds talking of an outstanding amount. Please do not open the link and delete the email immediately. An example of this scam was published on our Scams & Phishing webpage.

3 May 2024 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Draft Interpretation Note – Income Tax Exemption: Water Services Provider

Due date for comment: 7 June 2024

3 May 2024 – The tax workshop schedules for May have been published. See under the following provinces:

• Limpopo
• North West
• Free State & Northern Cape
• KwaZulu-Natal

More schedules will be published as they become available.

30 April 2024 – To ensure that SARS improves service and provide clarity and certainty to make it easier for Taxpayers to meet their tax obligations, SARS is holding Annual Employer Reconciliation Webinars for the month of May 2024 in KwaZulu Natal.

30 April 2024 – Achieving our Vision 2024 of a smart, modern SARS with unquestionable integrity that is trusted and admired is of paramount importance. Pivotal to the delivery of our vision are our digital platforms and technology infrastructure. To provide clarity and certainty, make it easy for taxpayers and traders to comply with their obligations and building public trust and confidence, our technology assets must demonstrate the highest levels of availability, robustness and security.

In accordance with our Vision and Strategic Objectives, which include modernising our systems to provide Digital and Streamlined online services, we are hard at work ensuring that our digital platforms and technology infrastructure are available, robust and secure, by performing regular upgrades, enhancements and maintenance.

Considering the above, SARS Digital platform upgrades are scheduled for :

Friday, 3 May 2024 from 18h00 to 20h00

Saturday, 4 May 2024 from 22h00 to 02h00 Sunday, 5 May 2024 .

During this time, you may experience intermittent service interruption on our eFiling, Tax and Customs Digital Platforms.

Responses (CUSRES messages) to transactions submitted during this time will be delayed.

Stakeholders are therefore urged to submit priority Goods Declarations (bills of entry) and Road Manifest by Saturday, 4 May 2024 @ 21h00.

30 April 2024 – South Africa recorded a preliminary trade balance surplus of R7.3 billion in March 2024. This surplus was attributable to exports of R164.1 billion and imports of R156.8 billion, inclusive of trade with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN).

The year-to-date (01 January to 31 March 2024) preliminary trade balance surplus of R10.8 billion was an improvement from the R5.7 billion trade balance deficit for the comparable period in 2023. On a year-on-year basis, export flows for March 2024 (R164.1 billion) were 15.3% lower compared to R193.7 billion recorded in March 2023, whilst import flows were 15.2% lower having decreased from R184.9 billion in March 2023 to R156.8 billion in the current period.

On a month-to-month basis, exports increased by R2.9 billion (1.8%) from R161.2 billion to R164.1 billion between February and March 2024, whilst imports also increased by R9.0 billion (6.1%) from R147.8 billion to R156.8 billion over the same period. Export flows increased in March, driven by Gold, Coal, and Chemical Wood Pulp. Imports flows increased on the back of sizable increases in the importation of Petroleum Oils (Excluding Crude), Crude Oil, and Banknotes.

Due to ongoing Vouchers of Correction (VOCs), the preliminary trade balance surplus of R14.0 billion announced for February 2024 was revised downwards by R0.7 billion, with the final number at R13.3 billion.

See the full media release here.

29 April 2024 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Interpretation Note 131 – Exemption of income relating to South African ships used in international shipping