2 April 2026 – On 27 March 2026, a public notice was issued listing the non-submission of income tax returns by Trusts as an incidence of non-compliance subject to an administrative non-compliance penalty under section 211 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (TAA). Administrative penalties may be imposed on taxpayers who fail to comply with an obligation under a tax Act. The penalties are designed to encourage compliance, applied consistently, and may recur monthly until corrected.
The imposition of administrative penalties on Trusts will be effective from 4 May 2026.
SARS will issue a penalty assessment notice (AP34) to notify the taxpayer of the penalties that have been levied for non-compliance with tax obligations. The notice will reflect imposed penalties, outstanding returns, and corrective measure to be followed to prevent accumulation of penalties. Taxpayers are also advised to submit a request for remission if they do not agree with the penalty imposed. The penalty will apply to trusts with outstanding income tax returns (ITR12T) for 2024 onwards. For Trust, a dispute against Interest on late payment of provisional tax, late payment penalty and under estimation penalty levied against will be allowed, in the correct sequence of Request for Remission (RFR), Notice of Objection (NOO) and/or Notice of Appeal (NOA).
The following are the grounds and reasons that the taxpayer can select when disputing against Trust:
- SARS error (Supply Details in the Grounds);
- Serious Illness / Death/Liquidation/Sequestration.
- Not Liable to File.
- Other/ Mitigation Factors (Supply Details in the Grounds) – i.e., remedied in full, unable to remedy and partially remedied.
For more information, see the updated Guide to submit a dispute via eFiling.
Kindly note that the previous Guide called ‘How to dispute Administrative Penalties via eFiling’ has been incorporated into the above guide.
Also see our step-by step video on How to file a Request for Remission for Trust on eFiling.
