- “Taxpayer information” is defined and protected by Chapter 6 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (Act No. 28 of 2011)(TAA) (section 67(1)(b) – defined as any information provided by a taxpayer or obtained by SARS in respect of the taxpayer, including biometric information), and all such information collected, collated, or stored as a result of the use of the SARS eFiling website will only be used in accordance with this Chapter as well as in compliance with the conditions of lawful processing as outlined in the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
- Other than set out above, SARS will only collect, store, and use information about Users for the purposes of service enhancement, such as –
- communicating requested information to Users;
- providing Users with access to restricted pages on this website; and
- to compile non-personal statistical information about browsing habits, click-patterns, and access to the SARS eFiling website, its material, and content, which is collected either electronically by using cookies or is provided voluntarily by the User. Users may determine cookie use independently through their browser settings.
- Any User who obtains information regarding another person or information that they reasonably believe is not intended for them, must, in accordance with rule 8(2) of the Rules for electronic communication, prescribed under section 255(1) of the TAA (Public Notice GN 64, Government Gazette 37940 of 25 August 2014, available here) read together with section 67(3) of the TAA–
- contact the SARS call centre immediately to disclose this fact and the circumstances under which the information was obtained;
- follow any processes that SARS prescribes to remove or destroy the information;
- not disclose, publish or make it known the information to any other person who is not a SARS official in any manner whatsoever or retain the information in any form (S67(3) of the TAA; and
- preserve the secrecy of information received under sections 68, 69, 70 and 71 unless disclosure is necessary to perform the functions specified in those sections.
