SC-DT-A-04 – Manage eAccounts on eFiling

Summary

eFiling users have access to a wide range of account maintenance functionalities including the ability to request statements of accounts.

eFiling users can pay Customs accounts in a variety of ways and to allocate amounts paid to the specific/correct debt a simple accounting maintenance process is available.

eAccount Management

Introduction

• The Customs eAccount will provide users with access to their accounts administered at Customs or Excise Offices. Clients will be able to register their Customs client numbers in order to gain access to this management tool. The eFiling eAccount allows full account management functionality per account for the client and reduces the necessity to interact over the counter at the Customs or Excise business offices.
• Clients must be assigned to their own unique financial account before being able to use and benefit from the eAccount.
• Clients that only process non-deferment (cash) declarations will only receive their own unique financial account once they have authenticated their registration and banking details at a Customs or Excise B/O. This financial account is treated as a national (non-deferment or cash) account and may be used for all declarations processed at the various Customs or Excise business office.
• In contrast, Customs deferment account holders will automatically receive accounts for each deferment facility that is registered at a particular Customs Office. These deferment accounts are Customs Office specific, and all deferment and non-deferment declarations processed at that Customs Office will be processed against such account.
• Deferment registrants may also receive their own national (cash) account, which will be used at Offices where they do not hold a deferment facility. This national account will be assigned once they have authenticated their registration and banking details at a Customs Office.
• In instances where clients make use of agents with their own accounts and respective Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) profiles, declarations processed in such a manner by the agents will not reflect on the clients’ accounts. Declarations will only display on the declarant’s account based on the EDI profile used.
• The eAccount does not cater for declaration processing but only deals with aspects relating to managing accounts with SARS.
• A new feature has been introduced on the eAccount Dashboard that allows users to view and manage their bonds online. This feature is part of the eFiling system that enables the client to file their tax returns electronically and access various tax related services.

Account Overview and Statements

How to view the eAccount Management Dashboard

• The dashboard is an overview for a specific account, which gives you all the information necessary to manage the account effectively. The dashboard also acts as the central point from which all account management functions can be selected.
• Basic registration details and deferment account status information will be reflected which will assist in highlighting any issues with a deferment account or the fact that no deferment facility exists.
• The Account Balance Summary highlights the total account balance and any unallocated payments.
• The total balance on account may consist of both unpaid declarations and unallocated payments. These unallocated payments arise due to an incorrect PRN being specified which prevents the system from automatically allocating the payment. These unallocated payments need to be allocated by you. Payment allocation serves to receipt the payment against deferment declarations, thus marking them off as paid/settled. Therefore, even where the total balance on account is in credit due to unallocated payments exceeding unpaid declarations, the unpaid declarations will still result in interest, penalties and suspension of deferment facilities.
• Monthly Statements of Account will be made available on the statement date for all deferment accounts and on the calendar month end for any non-deferment accounts. The latest issued statement of account will be displayed on the dashboard for ease of use.
• Lastly, users may select to make a payment or request an unallocated payment to be refunded. The VOC process to request a refund based on a reduced declaration still needs to be submitted via EDI and will only reflect on the eAccount following authorisation and acceptance by SARS.

How to access the eAccount Management Dashboard

To access the Dashboard once logged onto the eFiling website, the user must:

• Click on Customs;
• Click on eAccount Management;
• Click on Account Selection;
• Select the Select option; and
• Click on View Dashboard.

The eAccount Management Dashboard screen will now be displayed. It will display the client’s account details, status-related information, and a summary of the account balance.  The user will also be able to select and view a Statement of Account, view historic transactions, or make and view payments history.  To view their most recent account balances, the user must click on Refresh Balances.  This will allow the user to view the most recent balances payable or to be refunded in real time.

How to View Detailed Account Balances

The detailed account balances section provides a summary of transactions per processing date groupings, as well as a total balance. Transactions processed before the current month will display under Prior Periods, while transactions processed in the current month will display under Current Month.  The unpaid balances are split between each different declaration and transaction type grouping.

• To view the detailed account balances, the user must click on View Detailed Balances.

The eFiling Account Balance Summary Section will highlight the following:

• Unpaid balances if any, which are required to be paid by specific due dates; and
• Unallocated payments or credits if any, which need to be allocated to utilise the payment against declarations.

To return to the Account Maintenance Dashboard, the user must click on Back to Dashboard.

How to Request a Statement of Account

This functionality will allow the user to view statements and request specific statements.

The user will have two types of statements available to choose from, namely:

• Monthly Statement of Account: It is issued at the end of the accounting period. Each financial account will have its own statement and as this is a request for payment/settlement, this statement includes a PRN specific to the payable statement balance.  The user may select the monthly statement and make payment.  All unallocated payments must be allocated for full payment of the SOA to ensure that the full account is settled, and all declarations paid.
• Interim Statement of Account: It includes all transactions after the last monthly statement and is generated only on request by the client. This statement does not have a PRN and cannot be selected for payment.

To view the Monthly Statement of Account, from the eAccount Management Dashboard, the user must:

• Click on the applicable CSA Monthly hyperlink under the Statement of Account sub-header.

• Click on Download File.
• Click on Open File under Downloads once the file has downloaded successfully.

The Statement of Account is now displayed and will provide the client with the following information:

• A summary of opening balance;
• A summary of closing balance due;
• An age analysis providing a breakdown of transactions making up the closing balance;
• Payment details;
• SARS’ bank details as well as the PRN; and
• Amount payable.

To view an Interim Monthly Statement of Account, from the eAccount Management Dashboard, the user must:

• Click on Request Interim; and

• Click on Request;

The request for an Interim Statement of Account is acknowledged and will be available to view from the Dashboard. To return to the Dashboard, click on Back to Dashboard.

The requested Interim Statement of Account, once available, will appear on the Statement of Account page. The user must click on the CSA-Interim hyperlink to view the statement.

The user must then follow the same procedure as in How to Request a Statement of Account above to download and view the Interim Statement of Account.

Bonds Management

In an ongoing effort to enhance the user experience and to make tax compliance easier for all taxpayers, the SARS eFiling platform introduced an option for managing bonds under the eAccount menu. This feature is designed to simplify the process for clients who need to declare, manage, or obtain information regarding their bonds (home loans etc.) in relation to their tax obligations.

To access a list of bonds registered in the client’s name, once logged onto the eFiling platform and portfolio, the user must:

• Click on Customs;
• Click on Manage Bonds;
• Click on the Customs Agent Selection field; and
• Click on View.

A list of bonds registered on the client’s profile will be listed. This may include active, cancelled and de-linked bonds.

An active bond is a bond that is currently active and registered on the SARS eFiling website for eAccount maintenance. An active bond means that SARS is still able to claim the relevant interest and principal of the bond from the issuer.  An active bond can be viewed and managed by the client on the eFiling platform.

A cancelled bond is a bond that has been cancelled by the bond holder, bond issuer, or intermediary due to various reasons, such as early repayment, default, foreclosure, or maturity. A cancelled bond means that SARS can no longer claim the relevant interest and principal of the bond from the issuer.  A cancelled bond cannot be viewed or managed by the client on the eFiling platform, but it may still appear in the client’s historical records.

A de-linked bond is a bond that has been de-linked from the SARS eFiling website eAccount maintenance at the client’s request. A de-linked bond means that the client does not want to access or manage the bond information on the eFiling platform, and that the client must contact the bond issuer or intermediary directly for any bond-related matters.  Once a bond is de-linked, it will be classified as a cancelled bond.

To cancel a bond for reasons mentioned in paragraph above, the client must:

• Click on View/Manage;

• Click on Request Bond Cancellation;

• Click on Yes to process the bond cancellation request.

eFiling provide clients with a functionality to check the progress of their bond cancellation request. To check this, the client must click on Bond History.

A list of cancelled requests of bonds has been received but not processed yet, are displayed in Case Status as Pending. Bonds currently active or already cancelled, will not be displayed.

Bonds which status reads Case Closed Approved means that the client has successfully cancelled a bond and that SARS has verified and approved the cancellation. This happens when the client follows the procedure for cancelling a linked bond and provided sufficient proof of the de-linking to SARS.

• To gather more information on a specific bond, the user must click on View.

Information specific to the bond under enquiry, such as the case number, bond and case statuses can be viewed as displayed below.

How to pay your account

If the user wants to make payment on their accounts, they have several options at their disposal to do so. Once payment is made, it will result in automated allocation of payments.

If the client has any unallocated payments or credits, this section will also give them access to the ‘Account Maintenance’ tab where allocation of unallocated payments can be made.

Customs payments can only be made if the selected bank account linked to eFiling is set up for a ‘Credit Push’ payment. This means you need to approve every payment made on eFiling on your bank’s online service.  Any payment made via eFiling is only finalised at the point of approval by the bank and allocation to the declarations paid will follow thereafter.

The selection options for payment and account maintenance are the same in order to identify the declarations and grouping of declarations, but a monthly SOA can only be paid in full and any unallocated payment must be allocated in order for related declarations to be paid.

The selection options are as follows:

• Individual non-deferment declarations under ‘I would like to make a payment by’:
  • Declaration reference: Request a specific declaration reference (ERN) and only pay or perform account maintenance on this declaration. Only the specific ERN will be displayed if unpaid or a part thereof that is unpaid.
  • Due Date: Request a list of declarations by due date. This option will return a list of all declarations and the trader may select specific declarations from the list for payment or to perform account maintenance.  As with the Declaration Reference option, only the ERN’s will be displayed if unpaid or a part thereof that is unpaid.  Clients to type the due date as seen on the excise declaration.
  • ‘I would like to make a Duties Deferment Top-Up payment’: This option will use the ‘Unpaid Duties Deferred Balance’ as an indication of the total value which can be paid or against which account maintenance will be performed.  Only declarations with duties/levies deferred will be affected; i.e. where a single declaration has both duties/levies and VAT deferred, only the duties/levies component will be paid.
  • ‘I would like to make a Cash Top-Up payment’: This option will use the ‘Unpaid Cash Balance’ as an indication of the total value which can be paid or against which account maintenance will be performed.  If any Top-up grouping option is selected, the amount displayed as the payable value can be edited on the next screen if payment needs to be made.  However, in the event of account maintenance, the allocation will be done against the full value.  It will be done from the oldest unpaid declaration to the most recent and no editing is available.
    • The allocation of the payment or unallocated payment for this option will be allocated to any unpaid non-deferment declaration on account and must only be used if you do not specify which non-deferment declaration needs to be paid.
    • Where specific declarations require a ‘Proceed to Port/Release’ CUSRES, please use the ‘I would like to make a payment by’ declaration reference or due date option above.
  • ‘I would like to make a VAT Deferment Top up payment’: This option will use the ‘Unpaid VAT Deferred Balance’ as an indication of the total value which can be paid or against which account maintenance will be performed.  Only declarations with VAT deferred will be affected i.e. where a single declaration has both duties and VAT deferred, only the VAT component will be paid.
• If any Top-Up grouping option is selected, the amount displayed as the payable value can be edited on the next screen if payment needs to be made. However, in the event of account maintenance, the allocation will be done against the full value.  It will be done from the oldest unpaid declaration to the most recent and no editing is available.
• When making payment, or allocating a credit, please note the following rules:
  • Each ERN is linked to a specific declaration or grouping of declarations. The first ten (10) digits of the ERN represent your financial account number.
  • Any excess payment that remains after clearing all declarations that relate to the PRN will remain on the account as an unallocated credit.
  • Where there is an underpayment, the payment will first allocate to all cash declarations that are linked to the ERN, if any, and thereafter, to deferment transactions. The payment will allocate to the oldest unpaid declaration first.  Remaining declarations will remain on the account as unpaid.
  • If a ‘Top-Up’ payment is selected, payment will be allocated to the oldest transaction in the group, i.e. if payments are made for ‘Duties Deferment Top-up’, the payment will allocate to the oldest unpaid declaration with deferred duties.
  • When paying a ‘Top-up’, the client may edit the payment value. No partial statements need to be requested in the future if payments need to be made prior to the end of the statement period, as a top-up payment will have the same effect and reduce complexities around the selection of specific ERN’s.

The standard eFiling payment process is used after selecting the transaction or grouping for payment; therefore multiple declarations can be selected as single payments. These payments are all saved to the list of items, which will be paid, and a final single payment instruction for all items can be made.  The final payment is only effected after approval on the client’s bank’s online solution.

To access the Dashboard from where payments can be made, the user must:

• Click on Customs.
• Click on eAccount Management.
• Click on Account Selection;
• Click on the Select option, and
• Click on View Dashboard.

• Click on Make a Payment;

• Select any of the payment options described in The selection options are as follows above; and
• Click on Proceed to make Payment.

Payment by Declaration Reference

To make a payment by Declaration Reference, from the Customs Payment Options landing page, the user must:

• Make sure to select the Declaration Reference option.
• Insert the local reference number.
• Click on Proceed to Payment.

• Click on Pay Now.
• Click on OK.

• Select the applicable Account Name from the drop-down list.
• Click on Pay Now.

• Click on OK.

• Click on Confirm.
• Click on OK.

To finalise the process, the user must;

• Click on Continue, or
• Click on Print Confirmation to print the proof that payment has been initiated, and
• Access their designated bank account to release the payment.

Payment by Due Date

This payment option is used where a single declaration has multiple payment due dates, and a payment must be made per due date.

From the eAccount Management Dashboard, the user must click on Make a Payment.

From the Customs Payment Options landing page, the user must:

• Make sure to select the Due Date option;
• Capture the due date by:
  • Manually inserting the due date using the CCYY/MM/DD format; or
  • Clicking on the Calendar icon next to the Due Date field and select the date; and
• Click on Proceed to Payment.

All payments that are due on the selected due date will be listed on the Payment Summary page. Clients are allowed to select and deselect any of the declarations listed.

To continue with the payment process, the user must:

• Select the declaration(s) to be paid.
• Click on Pay Now.
• Click on OK.

• Select the applicable Account Name from the drop-down list.
• Click on Pay Now.

• Click on OK.

• Click on Confirm.
• Click on OK.

To finalise the process, the user must;

• Click on Continue, or
• Click on Print Confirmation to print the proof that payment has been initiated, and
• Access their designated bank account to release the payment.

Top-up Payment Options

The same procedure is used when making a payment using the different top-up payment options.

To commence payment, from the Customs Payment Option landing page, the user must:

• Select one of the three top-up payment options;
  • The amount is pre-populated with the total unpaid balance for all outstanding transactions.
  • This total value is assisting the user in identifying the maximum amount that can be paid.
  • If there are no amount outstanding against the client’s Financial Accounting Number (FAN), this top-up option won’t be available for selection. The option will be greyed out or deactivated.
• Click on Proceed to make a Payment;

• Click on Pay Now;
• Click on OK;

• Select the applicable account from the Account Name drop-down list.
• Click on Pay Now.

• Click on OK.

• Click on Confirm.
• Click on OK.

To finalise the process, the user must:

• Click on Continue, or
• Click on Print Confirmation as evidence that payment has been initiated, and
• Access the designated bank account to approve and release the payment.

Account Maintenance

Clients will use this functionality to resolve unallocated payments or credits that are highlighted in the Balance Summary section of the dashboard.

As part of the payment function from the dashboard, the client can allocate unallocated payments and credits to specific non-deferment declarations or against Duties/Levies Deferment, VAT Deferment or Cash declaration Top-Up options.

The selection options to identify non-deferment declarations or top-up options are the same as for when payments are made.

Allocations requested are final and the Proceed to Port/Release CUSRES will be issued for the selected declarations or those included in the Cash Top-Up option. The client cannot undo allocations and therefore needs to ensure that selections and allocations are done accurately.  Similarly, the selected unallocated payment has to be carefully selected in order to ensure that the payment date precedes the due date of the declarations selected to reduce any possible penalties or interest.

The Account Maintenance screen will display the requested non-deferment declaration/s or Top-Up option under the Uncleared Bills section and the available unallocated payments and credits will display under the Unallocated Payments section.

An allocation can only be performed by selecting a single unallocated payment at a time, but multiple unpaid declarations may be selected under the Uncleared Bills. If the trader decides that no allocation should be made and the Uncleared Bills must rather be paid, select NONE SELECTED under the Unallocated Payments and the Make Payment option will appear.

Account Maintenance by Declaration Reference and Due Date

To perform account maintenance using the declarations or due date, from the Customs Payment Options landing page, the user must:

• Select the Declaration Reference option for account maintenance by declaration reference; and
• Insert the applicable Customs Reference Number, or
• Select the Due Date option for account maintenance by due date; and
• Insert the applicable due date; and
• Click on Proceed to Account Maintenance.

The requested payment will be displayed under Uncleared Bills. It should be selected and assigned to a payment under Unallocated Payments.  Once the correct declaration(s) and payment has been selected, click on Assign selected values.

The selection will then be displayed in the Assigned Bills and Assigned Payments sections. If the allocation is correct, click on Submit Allocation.

A successful completion message will display in green and the account balances will be updated with the payment allocation in real time. Click on Continue to confirm the payment allocation.

Top-Up Options

This option is only available if the selected account has a positive balance. The balance can be utlised when performing account maintenance.

The user will perform account maintenance for all three (3) top-up options in the same manner.

To commence with account maintenance, from the Customs Payment Options landing page, the user must:

• Select any of the Top Up payment options, and
• Click on Proceed to Account Maintenance.

The requested Cash Top Up payment will be displayed under Uncleared Bills. It should be selected and assigned to a payment under Unallocated Payments.  Once the correct declaration(s) and payment has been selected, click on Assign selected values.

The selection will then be displayed in the Assigned Bills and Assigned Payments sections. If the allocation is correct, click on Submit Allocation.

A successful completion message will display in green and the account balances will be updated with the payment allocation in real time. Click on Continue to confirm the payment allocation.

After an open credit or allocation was successfully performed, the result will be processed immediately. The effect for each option is as follows:

• For the VAT Deferment or Duties/Levies Deferment top-up options, the Unpaid Duties/Levies or VAT deferred balances will be updated, and the available credit will increase accordingly.
• For cash top-up and individually selected non-deferment declaration allocations, the relevant Proceed to Port/Release CUSRES will be sent via EDI to the declarant for all non-deferred declarations.

The Account Balance Summary can be refreshed to display the effect of the allocations which were performed.

Requesting refunds

• This section will allow users to request a refund of an unallocated payment or credit to be paid back as an EFT to your authenticated bank account.
• An unallocated payment can arise due to an overpayment or where a refund VOC was accepted by SARS and the original declaration value was reduced. As a result, a payment or part of the payment which was allocated against it becomes available as an unallocated payment.
• This section only deals with requesting a credit that already exists on the account to be paid back. The existing refund VOC process via EDI and refund application process still needs to be followed.  Credits will be available on the account only upon final acceptance of the VOC.
• If a LRN is unpaid/partially paid, the credit on the account will not be refundable and you will not be able to allocate the credit until such time as the LRN debt has been settled.
• The unallocated credit will only be refunded via EFT and therefore valid banking details have to have been provided to a Customs office prior to the request. The credit requested for refund will remain available for Account Maintenance until the item is actually paid back.  If it is allocated prior to actual payment, the refund request will be deemed as cancelled.
• To request a refund, the user must:
  • Click on Refunds from the eAccount Management Dashboard landing page.

• • Select any available refundable credit.
  • Click on Request Refund.

• A message will notify the user that their refund request has been processed.

• Previously requested refunds can be cancelled at any point prior to the refund being paid. To cancel any available refund, the user must select a previously requested refund and click on Cancel Refund.  Cancelled refund requests will remain on the list and may again be requested for refund. 
• Refundable credits will remain available for allocation in the Account Maintenance section until the payment is made. Once the payment is utilised for allocation, any existing refund request on the payment is automatically cancelled.

Definitions, acronyms and abbreviations

The definitions, acronyms and abbreviations can be accessed here – Glossary webpage.

Legal disclaimer: In the event of conflict or inconsistency between this webpage and the PDF version of the guide, the latter shall prevail.