Third Party Data Submission Platform

10 September 2024 – Medical Trade Testing

Medical Aid Trade Testing delayed to 16 September 2024 until 04 October 2024. Please note the latest External Medical Aid Business Requirement Specification (BRS) . Version 1.09-2 includes the update to the 3rd Party Payor unique number.

Refer testing queries to [email protected] with the subject ‘Medical Trade Testing’.

10 September 2024 – Third Party Data Bi-annual Submissions: OPEN (1 September and 31 October 2024)

The SARS Third Party Data Annual Submissions process for the period 1 March 2024 – 31 August 2024 opened on 1 September 2024 and will close on 31 October 2024. Submissions in respect of data files and declarations of the various reportable data types as detailed per Table 1 are now due.

Table 1: Submission Dates – 2024: 

Please note the above dates and ensure that all your submissions are done within the specified period to ensure a smooth submission process:

• The Test Platform is, and will remain, open throughout the submission period to ensure that all your data files submitted conform to the specified BRS prior to being submitted to Production. Testing support is available to ensure that any issues picked up during testing receive the necessary attention and priority.
• The Production Platform is also open, and we encourage you to submit your 3^rd Party data for the 2024 tax year as soon as you are ready on or before 31 October 2024. The final two weeks of the submission period are always busy and if you delay your submissions, you will experience delays in the processing of the submitted data.

Making your submission
Please follow these five steps to prepare your submission file, submit to SARS, and declare your data before the submission due date.

• Step 1: Prepare a data file as per specified BRS.
• Step 2: If you have not already done so, you will need to enrol for Third Party Data Submission on SARS eFiling. You may use either:
  • eFiling (via a data submission form with a limited volume)
  • Connect: Direct® (Unlimited)
  • Secured File Gateway [HTTPS] (for files smaller than 10MB)
• Step 3: To test your data file on the Test Platform, request access from Third Party Data Support
• Step 4: Submit the data on the Production Platform using your preferred channel as per step 2 above.
• Step 5: Declare a summary of your data submissions by submitting the specified declaration form via eFiling.

Important to note – procedural requirements:

• You are urged to make use of the Test Platform prior to making your production submissions to ensure that your data submissions are validated. The functionality which previously allowed submissions of Test files in the Production environment has been removed.
• In respect of FATCA and the CRS Regulation, if you have no financial accounts to report, you are required to submit a NIL file and a declaration form as proof that you have done the required due diligence and that you declare that you have no financial accounts. This can now be done on eFiling via the FTI-01 form.
• Please make every effort to ensure complete, correct, and timeous submissions the first time around to minimise the number of revisions submitted. This is significant because of our continuous expansion of the auto assessment population and to reduce the potential of mismatches occurring relating to your data and impacting your client’s ability to fulfil their tax obligations.
• In the event you are required to amend your submissions, please alert us of such by emailing the SARS Third Party Data Support as soon as possible.
• Please make timely submissions as late or non-submissions may be liable for penalties.

Should you experience any challenges while making your submissions, you are welcome to contact us by emailing SARS Third Party Data Support ([email protected]  Please follow our webpage to be kept up to date on changes and communication in relation to SARS 3^rd Party Data.

10 September 2024 – Changes to SARS medical aid data reporting

In line with our strategic objective that aims to make it easy for all taxpayers to meet their personal tax obligations, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is implementing changes to the medical aid data reporting requirements. SARS has recognised the challenges faced by taxpayers in submitting medical aid data accurately and on time. To simplify this process and reduce the burden on taxpayers, SARS is making changes to the data that is required from medical aid schemes. 

Medical aid data changes include:

• Provision of data on disabled principal members and their dependents.
• Data of persons making payment on behalf of principal members.
• Separate non-allowable from the allowable expenses, currently reported as claims not paid or covered by medical schemes on the IT3(f) certificate.

For ease of reference, the changes in the latest External Medical Scheme Contributions Business Requirement Specification (BRS) (v1.09-2) are as follows:

• Field 4, File Layout Version must be 3.
• Updated the fields (182 and 206) for .
• Updated the Medical Practitioner HPSCA number fields (196 and 220) for Principal Member and Dependant.
• Updated the end date of disability fields (195 and 219) for Principal Member and Dependant.
• Updated the non-allowable source code (Appendix A).
• Updated the Logic validation for Third-Party Payor unique number field (235) under the Person Paying Account Financial Data.

These changes will also allow SARS to reduce audit interventions, enable speedy assessment of tax returns and assist in allocating medical tax credits to the correct taxpayers.

File submission structures 

Effective 5 October 2024, medical scheme contributions must be provided in line with the requirements outlined in the new BRS (v10.9-2).

Channels for submission

The new Medical Scheme Contributions solution will be available via Connect: Direct® and Secured File Gateway [HTTPS].

Trade testing

The medical aid data trade testing is scheduled from 16 September 2024 to 4 October 2024.

Should you have any trade testing queries, please refer them to [email protected] with the subject line “Medical Trade Testing”.

Please ensure that all your submissions are completed within the specified period to facilitate a smooth submission process. Note that:

• The Test Platform will remain open throughout the submission period to ensure that all the data files that you have submitted conform to the specified BRS prior to being submitted to Production. Testing support is available to address any issues identified during testing.
• The Production Platform is also open. SARS encourages you to submit your third-party data for the 2024 tax year as soon as possible, but no later than 31 October 2024.

Transition period

To ensure a smooth transition, SARS will grant a grace period of six (6) months for partial submission of the requested data, while stakeholders obtain resources to achieve full compliance. For cases of partial compliance, reasons and a commitment date for full compliance must be submitted to [email protected].