Section 18A
IT3(d) third‑party data must be submitted to SARS by all approved Section 18A Income Tax Exempt entities, containing the information of all tax-deductible receipts issued to donor taxpayers.
It is mandatory for all approved Section 18A entities to submit IT3(d) third party data to SARS as per Public Notice 3631, published in June 2023.
SARS requires that approved Section 18A entities submit the IT3(d) third party data during the bi-annual and annual reporting periods.
The submission periods are:
- Bi-annual submission due date is 31 October. This is for the period 01 March to 31 August.
- Annual submission due date is 31 May. This is for the full year of assessment being 01 March to the last day of February.
The requirements that the Section 18A tax deductible receipts must meet in terms of section 18A(2)(a)(vii) of the Income Tax are published in Public Notices. The first notice, published as Public Notice 3082 in February 2023, and came into effect from 01 March 2023, set out the requirements that Section 18A tax deductible receipts must meet (organisation details, donor details, donation amount, declaration of use for PBAs) and is effective from the 2023/2024 tax year up until 2025/2026.
A subsequent notice was published as Public Notice 6762,on 24 October 2025, and comes into effect from 1 March 2026, which requires additional mandatory information to be submitted (such as the income tax ref no, information relating to the donation of property made in kind) and will be effective from 2026/2027 tax year.
SARS has issued a Binding General Ruling 71– Section 18A Receipt: Donation of Property in Kind addressing the way Donation of Property in Kind must be indicated on Section 18A tax deductible receipts. Binding General Ruling 70 – Issue of a Single Section 18A Receipt to a Donor Taxpayer for Multiple Bona Fide Donations addressing the way Single Section 18A Receipt to a Donor Taxpayer must be addressed.
The Binding General Rulings must be taken into account when an approved Section 18A entity submits its IT3(d) third party to SARS.
IT3(d) Third Party Data
IT3(d) third party data must be submitted:
- Bi-Annual – Due 31 October: For the period 01 March to 31 August
- Annual – Due 31 May: For the Year of Assessment (period) 01 March to the last day of February
The pre-requisites for the submission of IT3(d) third party to SARS are:
- eFiling Registration
For your Section 18A approved exempt institution (EI) to submit its IT3(d) third-party data on eFiling, your institution needs to first be registered on eFiling. To register on eFiling, follow the below easy steps:
- Visit the SARS eFiling website – www.sars.gov.za
- Click on “Register”
- Complete the required information.
- Registered Representative
To be able to submit IT3(d) third-party data on behalf of your Section 18A approved exempt institution (EI) on eFiling, you are required to update the Registered Representative for your organisation. This can be done either via eFiling or on the SARS Online Query System (SOQS).
- Activation of IT3(d) on eFiling
- Entities are required to activate / enrol for IT3(d) on eFiling before being able to submit via the identified channels.
- SARS has also developed a micro-learning video on enrolling for IT3(d) on eFiling, which is on the SARS YouTube channel.
If an approved Section 18A entity that has not issued any S18A receipts for the period, is required to submit Null Declaration. Taxpayers wishing to submit only Null Declaration may do so via eFiling.
Please note: The submission of a Null declaration mitigates the risk of fraudulent claims i.e. using the section 18A approved EI’s details to make false submissions, thereby facilitating fraudulent claims. The simplified process.
SARS has provided 3 third party data submissions channels:
- eFiling
- HTTPS
- Connect Direct
The roles for the submission of IT3(d) third party data on eFiling are:
- Submitting Entity: Approved Section 18A entity or the appointed Tax Practitioner or a Donor Management System Service Proved
- Reporting Entity: Approved Section 18A entity
- Donor Entity: Donor information (for the 2025/26 tax year as per Public Notice 3082)
- Donation Record: Information on the donation, e.g. cash or in kind, amount
There are two steps to The Completion and Submission of IT3(d) third party data:
- Submission of the IT3-01 on eFiling OR submission via HTTPS
- Submission of the IT3-02 on eFiling (regardless of data submission channel)
An IT3(d) third party data submission will only be deemed complete if the IT3-02 declaration has been submitted.
Entities can correct and delete incorrect data submitted to SARS. More information on this is available the Third Party Data webpage.
