What if I don't agree?

What's New?

25 June 2018 - New way to object to penalties
Previously one source code was available to object to the different types of additional taxes for all assessments and penalties. The previous source code was 9997 – Additional Taxes/USP & Interest, including 89Q (2) Interest. SARS has enhanced this process so that you can now object to the following penalties separately:

  • 9987 – Tax-free investment penalty   
  • 9990 - Underestimation of provisional taxpayer (Par20)
  • 9991 - Non-submission of provisional taxpayer(Par20A)
  • 9992 - Omission of Income
  • 9988 – Underpayment of Provisional Taxpayer(89Q(2))
  • 9993  - Late or Non-submission of tax return    

30 June 2017 - Implementation of an automated Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) Dispute Management process
On 30 June 2017, SARS introduced an automated dispute management process for PAYE as part of our ongoing commitment to delivering a better service to taxpayers.

The new automated system now enables employers to lodge disputes via eFiling and electronically at any SARS branch, manage their tax profiles better and also have a consolidated view of all disputes lodged for Personal Income Tax (PIT), Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Value-Added Tax (VAT) and now PAYE.

Please take note of the following:

  • eFiling Guided Process (PIT, CIT, VAT and PAYE): To assist employers in following the correct dispute sequence and complete all required information, eFiling now entails an entirely guided process. The eFiling guided process ensures that the dispute is submitted according to legislative requirements and thereby eliminating any possible invalid disputes from being submitted to SARS.

    The new PAYE dispute management process has a wide range of benefits that will make managing tax affairs more efficient and these include:
    • It provides the ability to lodge disputes including Request for Remission (RFR), Notice of Objection (NOO) and Notice of Appeal (NOA) on eFiling platform or at your nearest SARS branch.
    • The ability to Request for Reasons (RFRE) via eFiling or at the nearest SARS branch.
    • The ability to Request suspension of payment via eFiling or at the nearest SARS branch.
    • The ability to submit reasons for late submission of the Dispute via eFiling or at the nearest SARS branch.
    • All dispute correspondence can be viewed at the click of a button, and where applicable, supporting  documents can be uploaded via eFiling or submitted at the nearest SARS branch.
    • Employers will have a consolidated view of all disputes lodged for Personal Income Tax (PIT), Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Value-Added Tax (VAT) and now PAYE.
    • Outcome letters for RFRs and NOOs, Request for late submission as well as Suspension of Payment are conveniently available on the taxpayer's eFiling profile.
    • The process provides the ability to dispute multiple periods on one dispute form up to a maximum of 12 periods for VAT and PAYE.
    • The ability to submit disputes will be based on user submission rights.
  • Request for Reasons: SARS has implemented an electronic Request for Reasons process via eFiling and the SARS branches for Personal Income Tax (PIT), Company Income Tax (CIT), Value-Added Tax (VAT) and Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE). See the Request for Reasons webpage for more information.

  • Request to allow late submission of a dispute for PIT, CIT, VAT and PAYE: The new dispute management process will introduce a separate condonation workflow whereby the employer will be allowed to submit the Request for Reasons, Notice of Objection (NOO) or Notice of Appeal (NOA) after the periods prescribed by the Dispute Resolution Rules have lapsed. Prior to the introduction of the separate workflow, the condonation process was included in the actual dispute process.

    The new automated condonation process allows for SARS to attend to the request for late submission before the Dispute or Request for Reasons case can be created and considered by SARS. If the Request for Reasons, NOO or NOA was submitted late, the employer will be prompted to provide reasons for the late submission. The new condonation process will ensure that the request for late submission is aligned with legislation as SARS will now inform the employer upfront of the outcome of the late submission instead of classifying the dispute as invalid.

  • Suspension of payments on PAYE: Employers will now be able to request suspension of payments pending the outcome of a dispute on PAYE via eFiling or at the nearest SARS branch. This is in line with already implemented suspension of payments that was implemented for PIT, CIT and VAT.

    For more information you can call the SARS Practitioner Contact Centre on 0860 12 12 19.

    Top tip: See our guide on How to submit a dispute via eFiling. 

Corrections

If you realise you made a mistake, the Request for Correction process allows you the ability to correct a previously submitted return/declaration for Income Tax or Value-Added Tax (VAT). See more information on how to submit a request for correction.

Disputes

If you don’t agree with the outcome of the audit/verification, you can dispute the outcome. To dispute the outcome of your assessment, a specific process must be followed.
 
1. You can object:
 
You must submit your objection on the correct form. See more information on which form to use and how to submit an objection.
 
Top Tip: To dispute a Personal Income Tax Administrative Penalty, you will first need to send a Request for Remission (RFR01).
 
2. If you don’t agree with the outcome of an objection, you can appeal.
 
As a taxpayer you have the right to lodge an appeal where your objection hasn’t been allowed in full or in part. The appeal must be lodged within 30 business days from the date the objection was disallowed or partially allowed. See more information on which form to use and how to submit an appeal.
 
Please note: For VAT only, if an ADR1 was completed for a specific period you will need to go to a branch to submit a NOA (Notice of Appeal) as eFiling does not have a history of the ADR submission and will allow you to submit a NOO (Notice of Objection) for the period.
 
Top Tip: You can call SARS with your debt query, please click here for the contact options.
 

Administrative Penalties

Did you get an Administrative Penalty? An administrative non-compliance penalty made up of fixed amount penalties as well as percentage based penalties. A non-compliance penalty levied depends on the type of non-compliance.
 
If a taxpayer doesn’t pay their tax debts (this includes penalties) by the due date, SARS is allowed to recover money held by third parties on behalf of the taxpayer. Third parties could be an employer or a bank, etc.
 
This means that if you didn’t respond to any of the notices or demands informing you of your outstanding tax debts, SARS may appoint your employer or any other third party who holds money on your behalf, to pay the outstanding amounts to SARS. Find out more about Third Party Appointments.
 

Which form to use?

Type of Tax

 Request for Remission(RFR)​

Notice of Objection (NOO)​
(including late submission request)

 Notice of Appeal (NOA)
(Including late submission request)​		  Request for Reasons(RFRE)   ​ ​ADR1 ADR2​ Manual letter​

​Personal Income Tax

(Late payment penalties & interest on Provisional Tax and Administrative Penalties) ​

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If RFR is declined

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Personal Income Tax​

(Assessed ​Tax including additional/understatement tax, interest and penalty for underpayment of provisional tax, etc.)

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​Personal Income Tax

(Late payment penalties & interest on Provisional Tax and Administrative Penalties if the ITA34 has not been issued yet)

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Corporate Income Tax

(Assessed ​Tax including additional/understatement tax, interest and penalties, etc.)

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​Trust
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​Value-Added Tax (VAT)

(Late payment penalty )

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​If RFR is declined for late payment penalty

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​Value-Added Tax (VAT)

(Interest on late payment)

 
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​PAYE

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​If RFR is declined for late payment penalty
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​PAYE

Interest on late payment

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Payroll Taxes​ (Assessment, Penalties and Interest, etc.)
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​All other taxes not listed above (e.g. STC before 1 April 2011, Donations Tax, Dividends Tax, etc.)
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Last Updated: 25/06/2018 1:17 PM     print this page ​
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