Tax practitioners are urged to use the Tax Practitioner’s profile when assisting clients
Tax practitioners are urged to use the Tax Practitioner’s Profile when assisting clients. This allows you to:
- Activate multiple taxpayers against that portfolio type
- Group taxpayers under the same portfolio type
- Specify a descriptive name for each group (for ease of reference).
As a registered eFiler you can act in different “roles” on eFiling (e.g., tax administrator). These “roles” are referred to as Portfolio Types, e.g.:
- Individual – a person acting as himself/herself to administer his/her own individual taxes
- Tax Practitioner – a person registered with SARS and a Recognised Controlling Body (RCB) and has a signed Power Of Attorney (POA) to act on behalf of another taxpayer
- Organisation – a representative of a tax paying entity acting either as the representative taxpayer (e.g., Public Officer, Executor of an estate, etc.) or an appointed representative with a signed Power of Attorney in place.
Should you have registered different portfolio types prior to 1 July 2019, you would previously have accessed the abovementioned portfolios by using a unique username and password for each. As from 1 July 2019, you will only use one username and password (referred to as the primary login) to login to eFiling.
You can then choose the portfolio that you want to access.
Tax practitioners may only use their tax practitioner’s profile when assisting their clients. The use of the taxpayer’s or organisation’s eFiling login details is a misrepresentation of the user of the profile.
Tax Practitioners are also encouraged to have shared access with their clients to ensure accuracy and shared responsibility for any information submitted to SARS.
For more information click on SARS Readiness Programme – Module 6 – eFiling – YouTube for an overview on the portfolio types.
Updated BRS – PAYE Employer Reconciliation for 2023/2024
For updates on the PAYE Employer Reconciliation for 2023/2024, refer to the updated BRS – PAYE Employer Reconciliation for 2023/2024, dated 2 June 2023:
PAYE BRS for Employer Reconciliation version 22 1 1 (previous version was 22 1 0).
Please note that the validation rules for source codes 3903/3953, 3905/3955 and 4150 were amended in this version.
Backdating of PAYE and SDL liability dates
Refer to the updated guide on the rules built in the RAV01 form when PAYE and SDL liability dates are completed or updated.
Failure to de-register for tax types may lead to de-registering of tax practitioners
SARS is concerned that non-submission of returns by tax practitioners may be the result of tax practitioners or their clients failing to de-register for tax types that are no longer applicable to them. The consequence of not de-registering when required is that it may lead to the de-registration of the tax practitioner due to non-compliance. SARS has to date de-registered 323 non-compliant tax practitioners who have failed to regularise their tax affairs within a stipulated time frame.
Tax Practitioners are therefore urged to refer to the following links to ensure that they know how and when to de-register for tax types:
Tax Practitioner Connect Issue 38 (November 2022)
View the presentation which outlines the relevant procedures to be followed when a taxpayer applies for a de-registration of a tax type.
Misrepresentation of taxpayers’ information
Tax practitioners sometimes provide SARS with their own contact details (cell phone number and email address) on their client’s REGISTRATION, AMENDMENTS AND VERIFICATION FORM (RAV01). This is misrepresentation of taxpayers’ information and is an unacceptable practice.
It further results in preventing taxpayers from receiving communication from SARS when SARS needs to contact taxpayers directly, e.g. One Time Pins (OTPs) when requesting eFiling profile transfers, change of registered representatives, etc.
SARS therefore, appeals to tax practitioners to ensure that they provide the correct contact details of their clients in their RAV01s.
RCB list updated on SARS systems
The Tax Administration Act (Act No. 28 of 2011) requires that every natural person who provides advice to another person with respect of the application of a tax Act or completes or assists in completing a tax return by another person, must register with both an RCB and SARS as a tax practitioner.
One of the registration steps is that the person registers him/herself on eFiling as a tax practitioner by selecting the RCB with which he/she is already registered.
When a tax practitioner provides services to his/her clients, he/she is required to use the SARS system using his/her tax practitioner profile. The SARS system may require the tax practitioner to enter the tax practitioner registration number and the RCB.
The above requires that the RCB list that is on the SARS system is accurate.
As the result of the amendments to the Tax Administration Act, and to ensure that the RCB list on the SARS system is accurate, the following changes on the SARS system have been affected on 2 June 2023:
- Removed IRBA as an RCB,
- Changed SAIBA to CIBA and all members linked to SAIBA are now linked to CIBA,
- Changed CSSA to CGISA, and all members linked to CSSA are now linked to CGISA.
- Updated the RCB list on the SARS system, including CMO and OTO systems, to reflect below:
- Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
- Chartered Governance Institute of Southern Africa (CGISA)
- Financial Planning Institute (FPI)
- Institute of Accounting and Commerce (IAC)
- SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA)
- SA Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA)
- SA Institute of Taxation (SAIT)
- The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
- Chartered Institute for Business Accountants (CIBA)
- Legal Practice Council (LPC)
