27 October 2026 — SARS has the power to appoint an employer to pay any outstanding tax, which is due by a taxpayer, out of any money that is held on behalf of the taxpayer. This process is called the Third-Party Appointments process (AA88). If a taxpayer has outstanding tax debts (this includes penalties, which will accrue until the outstanding returns are submitted), the Tax Administration Act empowers SARS to appoint a third party to recover money held by other third parties on behalf of the taxpayer, or money owed by the third party to the taxpayer. Third parties could be an employer.
The AA88 appointment process has been enhanced with a revised schedule for employers when automatically processing AA88 appointments for Personal Income Tax (PIT) administrative penalties and assessed tax debt. The revised schedule improves the automated process by providing employers with more time to load AA88 deductions before payroll closure and reducing repeated AA88 appointments and cancellations.
For more information, see the updated IT-easyFile-G01 – Third-Party Appointment (AA88) e@syFile™ Employer Guide – External Guide or visit the Third-Party Appointments (AA88) webpage.
