17 April 2026 – The Tax Directives System has been enhanced, and the guides have been updated in line with the legislative changes.
Recognition of Transfer (ROT)
The process to cancel ROTs submitted to SARS has been enhanced to reduce delays in finalising cancellation requests.
- Supporting documents will not be required when the Fund Administrators/Long-term insurer submits a request on eFiling.
- Review cases for manual intervention will no longer be created as the ROT cancellation will be automatically cancelled.
- The functionality for Bulk cancellation of ROTs has been added on eFiling to allow the requestor to submit multiple cancellation requests at the same time.
- The Fund Administrators/Long-term insurer will be able to view the status of a cancellation request and verify if a ROT has been cancelled.
To assist Fund Administrators/Long-term insurer to manage the administrative process around reminders for outstanding ROTs:
- In addition to the ability able to view existing ROTs that have been submitted on the relevant eFiling profile, Fund Administrators/Long-term insurer will now be able to enquire and view the details of the ROT reminders sent by SARS as a prompt to submit outstanding ROTs.
Double Tax Agreement (DTA) on Form C tax directive application
From 17 April 2026, the Fund Administrator will be able to indicate on the tax directive application form that a DTA is applicable, and a manual review case will be created for the Auditor/Assessor to verify the applicability of the DTA.
Due to system constraints, Fund Administrators were previously required to e-mail a manual tax directive application to SARS for a tax directive to be issued in line with the provisions of the applicable DTA. From 17 April 2027, these manual tax directive applications will not be accepted.
Certificate of Residence
Guidance has been provided to assist in determining which documents may be accepted as an alternative to a Certificate of Residence.
Backdated (Antedated) salaries and/or Pensions
When the reason on the tax directive is ‘Backdated (Antedated) salaries and/or Pensions’, the employer is required to provide a breakdown of the payment into the following categories:
- Income,
- Benefit,
- Deductions
Request for Relief of South African Tax (RST01)
Currently when the RST01 – ‘Directive Application by Non-Resident for Relief of SA Tax for Pension and Annuities’ is finalised, the tax directive (IRP3er) issued does not reflect the valid from/to dates per SARS intention to issue this directive with a 3-year validity period. The IRP3er has been enhanced to display the 3-year validity period.
Pronouncement from 2026 Budget Speech
The tax directive system will be updated for the following changes:
- The Paragraph (c) Living annuity commutation value, prescribed by Notice 7289 in the Government Gazette 54399 of 23 March 2026 is increased from R125 000 to R150 000 with effect from 1 March 2026, irrespective of whether there were any previous commutations on retirement.
- The value of the of the amount (De minimis) that a taxpayer can take in full, on retirement, without being subject to the annuitisation rules has been increased from an amount equal or less than R247 500 to an amount equal or less than R360 000 from 1 March 2026.
Updated guides:
- IT-AE-33-G01 – Tax directive Cease to be resident and Expiry of visas – External Guide
- IT-AE-41-G01 – Completion Guide for IRP3(a) and IRP3(s) Form – External Guide
- IT-AE-41-G02 – Guide to Complete the Lump sum Tax Directive Application Forms – External Guide
- IT-AE-41-G03 – Guide to Complete Submit and Cancel a Recognition of Transfer – External Guide
- IT-AE-41-G04 – Guide to the Tax Directive functionality on eFiling – External Guide
