2 September 2025 – SARS is realising its vision to become a smart, modern organisation with unquestionable integrity, trusted and admired by all. It is working hard to make it easy for taxpayers to comply with their legal obligations and to create an environment of voluntary compliance. Herewith Trust Income Tax 2025 Tax Season Updates as information for Trustees and Representatives:
Key Dates for Trust Tax Matters
- 31 August 2025: first provisional tax payment for the 2026 assessment year.
- 20 September 2025: opening date for ITR12T submissions.
- 30 September 2025: deadline for IT3(t) return submissions.
- 30 September 2025: top-up provisional tax payment for the 2025 assessment year.
- 19 January 2026: final deadline for provisional and non-provisional trust tax return (ITR12T) submissions.
- 28 February 2026: second provisional tax payment for the 2026 assessment year.
The appointed representative taxpayer (trustee or tax practitioner) must submit the ITR12T annually within the prescribed trust return filing period through SARS eFiling.
Below is an overview of important updates for the 2025 Trust Income Tax Season.
Legislative Changes
Definition of a Trust
The definition of a trust has been updated to include the underlined words below:
“trust” means any trust fund consisting of cash or other assets which are administered and controlled by a person acting in a fiduciary capacity, where such person is appointed under a deed of trust or by agreement or under the will of a deceased person, and includes a portfolio of a collective investment scheme and a portfolio of a hedge fund collective investment scheme.
Please note that this amendment does not affect the ITR12T.
Section 6quat
With effect from 1 March 2025, section 6quat of the Income Tax Act (the ITA) has been amended for taxpayers to fully use foreign tax credits for the taxes paid on capital gains in the foreign jurisdiction, to the same extent as taxes paid in South Africa on the same gains.
From the 2025 tax year, SARS will maintain any unused foreign tax credits to be carried forward automatically in the subsequent years of assessment, up to six years. In addition, section 6quat(1A) (a)(iii) clarifies the rebate for foreign taxes on income in respect of capital gains. To prevent double taxation on capital gains of residents due to the disposal of assets situated outside South Africa, section 6quat (1A)(a)(iii) of the Act provides for residents to claim a credit against South African tax for irrecoverable foreign taxes paid on these foreign-sourced capital gains.
Section 12H Learnership Agreement
The section 12H (of the ITA) Learnership Agreement termination date has been extended from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2027.
Section 25B
Section 25B was amended to align it to paragraph 80 of the Eighth Schedule to the ITA by limiting the “flow-through” principle only to resident beneficiaries. This means that all amounts vested to non-resident beneficiaries are subject to tax in the hands of the trust.
Note: this amendment will also affect the submission requirements for provisional tax (IRP6).
Form Changes
ITR12T Farming and Partnership Farming Auto-Calculator
- Income and Expense Declaration: taxpayers can declare income and expenses from farming operations, with each field previously requiring manual input, including opening balances.
- Under-Declaration Challenge: SARS was previously unable to proactively identify potential under-declarations because information was captured manually.
- Auto-Calculation Amendment: the form now allows for automatic calculation of amounts, which will be stored for pre-population in future returns.
- Pre-Population Feature: the system will extract previous IT48 and IT48V assessed information (balances) and prepopulate this information in the current year return.
- Enhanced Reporting: improved tax reporting for trusts relating to local farming operations and local farming partnerships.
Wizard Question on ITA Section 25B(4)-(6) — Limitation of Losses
A new question is introduced in the wizard to ascertain if any amounts vested are subject to section 25B(4)-(6). This information will help SARS design future iterations of the return that may provide for these scenarios.
Flow-through of Capital Losses
The flow-through of capital losses is not permitted under paragraph 80 of the Eighth Schedule to the ITA. However, in a trust environment, there may be cases where this rule may not apply, e.g. in the case of a bewind or vesting trust. The ITR12T is amended to provide for such scenarios. Subsequently, a new wizard question is introduced for the trustees to declare if the trust is a bewind or vesting trust.
Type (b) Special Trusts (Only when a Trust Is Classified as Such)
A new question is introduced in the wizard that requires confirmation from the trustees that the youngest beneficiary has not yet reached the age of 18 on the last day of the year of assessment. Based on the answer to the wizard question, the trustee will either be redirected or allowed to continue with the completion of the form.
Beneficial Ownership
- Deceased founders: the form is amended to provide for scenarios where the founder is deceased. A tick-box is included for this purpose.
- Unnamed beneficial owners: the form is amended to provide for scenarios where the beneficial owners — usually beneficiaries — are unnamed or a class of beneficiaries. A free text box is included to provide for the details of these unnamed beneficiaries.
Further Information
- After submitting the ITR12T, you will receive a survey about your experience. Please complete the survey to help improve the submission process.
- An updated version of The Comprehensive Guide to the Income Tax Return for Trusts will be available on the SARS website from 20 September 2025.
- Register, submit, and pay the assessed amounts on time as required by legislation.
