Government

What’s New?

28 April 2026 – Latest Government Connect newsletter is now available

Welcome to this edition of our newsletter for Government employees. In this issue, we share key updates from SARS, including the milestone of exceeding R2 trillion in net revenue, enhancements to the tax practitioner registration and verification process, and important filing and submission windows for employers and third-party data providers. We also highlight recent guidance on trust deregistration and forthcoming administrative non-compliance penalties and wrap up with a few useful links to the VAT Chat podcast series.
22 April 2026 – Simplified Beneficial Owner Register for Partnerships
During the 2024 Filing Season, SARS issued a notice implementing a new requirement for taxpayers who are in a partnership to declare the details of his or her partners on the ITR12, in line with the beneficial-owner regulations. This declaration is required by the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act 22 of 2022.
However, this created a significant administrative challenge as each partner had to provide details about every other partner, excluding themselves, on the annual Income Tax Return (ITR12).
To simplify the process, SARS is launching a single eFiling form, the Beneficial Owner Register IT3(BO). A designated partnership representative must use this form annually to register, fill out, and submit all partners’ information for the partnership. As a result, individual partners will no longer need to enter all partner details on the ITR12. Once the partnership representative submits the Partnership IT3(BO), SARS will issue an IT3(BO) unique number after processing the IT3(BO) form. Partners can use only this IT3(BO) unique number to declare partnership details on the ITR12.
How Does It Work?
1. Nominate and submit: The partnership must nominate a representative to access the IT3(BO) form on eFiling and complete the details of all partners. Once all the information is captured, the form must be submitted to SARS.
2. SARS issues the IT3(BO) number: SARS will issue a “Beneficial Owner Register for Partnership Notice (IT3[BO])” to the appointed representative. This notice includes the IT3(BO) unique number for the partnership. The partnership IT3(BO) unique number must then be used to retrieve the previously submitted partnership details, so that updates can be made and submitted to SARS.
3. Partners receive notification: SARS will also issue a “Beneficial Owner Partner in a Partnership Notice” to the partners that includes the IT3(BO) unique number. The partner must use the IT3(BO) unique number when declaring partnership details in their annual Income Tax Return (ITR12).
REMEMBER: The IT3(BO) form must be submitted annually by the designated representative. Each partner can use just the unique IT3(BO) number to declare partner details on the ITR12.
For more detail, see the IT-AE-36-G07 – Guide to the Beneficial Owner Register for Partnership IT3BO Form – External Guide.
2 April 2026 – Government Connect Issue 33 (March 2026)

In this issue, we bring you the key changes for the 2026/2027 PAYE Employer Reconciliation BRS, including new rules for long service awards, death compensation during employment, and an updated source code for travel reimbursements. Discover the latest upgrades to e@syFile™ Employer, with enhanced bulk payment functionality for ITA88s, and learn about the newly opened Global Minimum Tax registration now available on SARS eFiling.

Welcome to the Government webpage

SARS is committed to working with Government Institutions to ensure high levels of voluntary compliance. We believe in building effective and beneficial partnerships with Government by collaboration, monitoring compliance and resolving Government’s tax affairs. Our priority is to understand and enable Government as both a taxpayer and as a strategic partner in the tax compliance value chain.

SARS is therefore committed to:

Provide CLARITY and CERTAINTY for taxpayers and traders of their obligations
Make it EASY for taxpayers and traders to comply with their obligations
DETECT taxpayers and traders who do not comply and make non-compliance HARD and COSTLY.

Work with and through Stakeholders to improve the tax ecosystem.

Here you will find the latest information and updates from SARS to assist you in meeting your tax obligations and broadening the culture of tax compliance.

The three Spheres of Government

National Government Departments – 457 institutions are responsible for maintaining internal and external security and stability of the country.

Provincial Government Departments– 296 sub-division of government, which shares political, fiscal and economic powers with the national government.

Local Government Institutions– 352 local government departments which are responsible for a range of vital services for people and businesses in demarcated areas. Municipalities are within the definition of Local Government.

Registration

All spheres of government are registered for Pay As You Earn (PAYE).

Municipalities are registered for Value-Added Tax (VAT) and PAYE.

Municipalities

There are 278 municipalities in South Africa, comprising of 8 metropolitans, 44 districts and 226 local municipalities. They are focused on growing local economies and providing infrastructure and service.

There are three categories of municipalities:

Category A: Metropolitan municipality
Category B: Local Municipality
Category C: District Municipality

Need help with e@syFile? View our tutorial videos

The new e@syfile™ Employer:

Who is a Government Institution (SARS Official Definition)?

There are three spheres of Government as per the Constitution, namely:

National;
Provincial; and
Local.

Clarity of what a Government institution is helps to identify taxpaying institutions that form part of the system of inter-governmental relations and SARS is able to offer the correct blend of education and service products that help these institutions achieve tax compliance. The definition of a Government Institution is as follows:

National Government Departments per Schedule 1 of the Public Service Act;
Provincial Government Departments per Schedule 2 of the Public Service Act;
National Parliament as per Chapter 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa;
Provincial Legislatures per Chapter 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa;
Local Government: Municipalities as per the Municipal Structures Act and Section 155(6) of the Constitution;
Municipal Entities – The Municipal Systems Act defines three types of entities that may be established by a municipality with effect from 1 August 2004 (private company, service utility or multi-jurisdictional service utility). These include Museums and Art Galleries, Community Halls, Tourism, Transport and Buses, etc.;
Public Entities as listed in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA);
Public FET Colleges as defined in the Further Education and Training Colleges Act;
Universities as defined in the Higher Education Act;
Public Hospitals or Public Health Care Establishments as defined in the National Health Ac;
Public Schools as defined in Chapter 3 of the South African Schools Act;
Public Museums as defined in the Cultural Institutions Act; and
Public Pension Funds created as per the Pension Funds Act.

How to determine to whom the role of registered representative is to be allocated?

The Public Finance Management Act defines the accounting officer in a government institution. Section 38 of the PFMA sets out the responsibilities of the accounting officer and in section 38(e), it is mentioned that the accounting officer must comply with tax, duty or levy as may be required by legislation. The accounting officer therefore, is the representative taxpayer for a Government Institution.

This may be:

The Municipal Manager in the context of Local Government;
The Director General in the context of National Government
The Superintendent General in the context of Provincial Government.

It is the responsibility of the accounting officer therefore to ensure that registered particulars are up to date, returns and filed and paid on time, the correct tax is being paid. The accounting officer must also ensure that:

The tax function is managed in an integrated manner across the institution;
There is maximum use of the SARS technology
Tax Obligations are being managed.

Electronic services and VAT on imported services

Government Institutions may be liable for VAT on Imported Services.

Imported services refers to the supply of services by a supplier who is not a resident of the Republic or conducts business outside the Republic, to a recipient who is a resident of the Republic, to the extent such service are utilized or consumed in the Republic, otherwise than for purposes of making taxable supplies.

In terms of section 7(1)(c) of the Act, VAT at the standard rate is payable by the recipient of imported services.

VAT is not payable on imported services where:

(i) The supply would be exempt from VAT or zero-rated if supplied in the Republic

(ii) The supply of the service is subject to VAT at the standard rate (presently 15%)

(iii) A supply is of an educational service by an educational institution established in an export country which is regulated by an educational authority in that export country

(iv) The supply is of services by an employee in the course of their employment or the rendering of services by a holder of any office to the extent that remuneration is paid or payable to such employee or holder of office

(v) The value of the imported services does not exceed R100 per invoice.

Where the recipient is not registered as a vendor, the VAT liability is declared in the VAT 215 record.

The following guides contain additional information:

LAPD–VAT–G16 – VAT FAQs Supplies of Electronic Services

VAT – ELEC-01-G01 – Manage Value Added Tax on Imported Services

VAT 215 – Record in respect of Imported Services

The following channels may be used for Government Institutions: