What’s New at SARS

14 July 2025 – The state provides state warehouses for the safekeeping of goods. These are managed by Customs. The purpose of this list of unentered goods is to notify the importer, exporter and any other person that has interest in the goods that the goods have been taken up into the State warehouse and if they remain unentered they will be disposed in accordance with the provisions of the Customs & Excise Act.

See the latest Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods here.

11 July 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication of rules amendments notices R6408 and R6409, as published in Government Gazette 52968 of 11 July 2025, relating to the following amendments:

Notice R6409

• Amendments to rules under sections 77H and 120 – Internal appeals (DAR261)

Notice R6408

• Amendments to rules under section 120 – Substitution of form DA 5 under item 202.00 of the Schedules to the rules (DAR262)

11 July 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariffs amendments notice R6410, as published in Government Gazette 52968 of 11 July 2025, are now available.

10 July 2025 – Achieving our Vision of a smart, modern SARS with unquestionable integrity that is trusted and admired is of paramount importance. Pivotal to the delivery of our vision are our digital platforms and technology infrastructure. To provide clarity and certainty, make it easy for taxpayers and traders to comply with their obligations and building public trust and confidence, our technology assets must demonstrate the highest levels of availability, robustness, and security.

In accordance with our Vision and Strategic Objectives, which include modernising our systems to provide Digital and Streamlined online services, we are hard at work ensuring that our digital platforms and technology infrastructure are available, robust, and secure, by performing regular upgrades, enhancements, and maintenance.

Considering the above, SARS Digital platform upgrades are scheduled for:

Friday, 11 July 2025 from 18h00 to 22h00.

During this time, you may experience intermittent service interruption on our eFiling, Tax and Customs Digital Platforms.

Responses (CUSRES messages) to transactions submitted during this time will be delayed, however, arrival and exit management functions are available at land border posts for all released declarations and manifests.

Stakeholders are therefore urged to submit all Goods Declarations (bills of entry) and Road Manifest, especially those deemed priority, by Friday, 11 July 2025 @ 17:00.

10 July 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariffs amendments notice, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relates to the amendments to –

• Part 1 of Schedule No. 1, by the substitution of tariff subheadings 1001.91 and 1001.99 as well as 1101.00.10, 1101.00.20, 1101.00.30 and 1101.00.90, to increase the rate of customs duty on wheat and wheaten flour from 54.95c/kg and 82.42c/kg, respectively to 85.15c/kg and 127.72c/kg, in terms of the existing variable tariff formula (ITAC Minute M05/2025).

Publication details will be made available later

10 July 2025 – An auto assessment, which is part of SARS’ commitment to make the fulfilment of your tax obligation as seamless as possible, is based on the data we receive from employers, financial institutions, medical schemes, retirement fund administrators, and other third-party data providers. We are sending the notices in batches between 7 and 20 July 2025.

Wait for your auto assessment notice through SMS or email:

• If you agree with your auto-assessment, there is nothing further to be done. If SARS owes you a refund, you will receive the money in your bank account within 72 hours.
• If you don’t agree, file your Income Tax return through eFiling or the MobiApp. No need to wait until 21 July 2025, you can do it immediately.

See more information on the How does Auto-Assessments work webpage or watch our short video: Discover how 2025 Auto-assessments will simplify your tax matters.

10 July 2025 – The new Filing Season is upon us. Get all the information you need to know in the 2025 Filing Season Overview Leaflet!

Stay updated with all the information, including auto assessments, educational videos and more, by keeping an eye on the Filing Season webpage.

#YourTaxMatters #FilingSeason2025

9 July 2025 – Tax Administration Act, 2011, and Superior Courts Act, 2013

• CSARS v Kajee and Others (D1514/2025) [2025] ZAKZDHC 39 (24 June 2025)

Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 (TAA) and Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013: Section 163 of the TAA – Preservation orders – Section 47 of the TAA – SARS audit powers – Section 21(2) of the Superior Courts Act – Jurisdiction over joined parties –  Preservation order – Reconsideration  application – Jurisdiction – SARS compliance investigation – Whether the provisional preservation order granted under section 163 of the TAA against Plus (Pty) Ltd and Dodo Africa (Pty) Ltd should be discharged, as requested in their reconsideration application.

9 July 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• SARSTC 2024/8 (IT) [2025] ZATC CPT (23 May 2025)

Whether or not the Commissioner for SARS provided an adequate response to the applicant’s request for reasons pertaining to why CSARS maintains that the arrangement occurred within a business context.

9 July 2025 – The Limpopo mobile tax unit schedules for July 2025 are now available.

9 July 2025 – The facility codes used in Box 30 on the Customs Clearance Declaration (CCD) have been updated to include details of the Allport Cargo Services (Pty) Ltd with code CG based at Cape Town International Airport.
This addition enables Customs to transmit electronic messages communicating the status of the consignment to these facilities.

SC-CF-19-A02 – Facilities Code List – External Annexure

9 July 2025 – The Western Cape, Free State and Northern Cape mobile tax unit schedules for July to October 2025 are now available.

8 July 2025 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) yesterday experienced higher than expected volumes which caused our systems to respond longer than expected. We recognise that some employers experienced delays in submitting their monthly EMP201’s and as a result we will consider not imposing penalties and interest in relation to employers who would otherwise have been compliant.

This process of payment is governed by paragraphs 2(1) and 14(2) of the Fourth Schedule to the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962, which provides for the payment of Pay-As-You-Earn, (PAYE) Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Skills Development Levy (SDL) and the submission of the EMP201 form within a period of 7 days after the end of the month during which the amounts that were withheld from remuneration paid to employees.

In terms of section 3 of the Income Tax Act, the Commissioner for SARS has the discretionary power to extend the respective due dates. In the exercise of that discretionary authority, SARS Commissioner has extended the due date for filing and payment to Monday, 14 July 2025.

Taxpayers are encouraged to submit their EMP201 returns before 14 July to avoid late penalties.

For information, please contact [email protected].

8 July 2025 – Value-Added Tax Act, 1991, and Tax Administration Act, 2011

• CSARS v African Bank Limited (242/2024) [2025] ZASCA 101 (8 July 2025)

Jurisdiction: Whether the jurisdiction of the tax court engaged in instances where the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service refuses to make a determination under s 17(1) of the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991 (VAT Act) in the terms as sought by a taxpayer – whether such refusal constitutes a decision subject to objection and appeal procedure under the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 – interpretation of s 32(1)(a)(iv) of the VAT Act.

8 July 2025 – The Prohibited and Restricted Imports and Exports list has been updated.

New subheadings inserted under Tariff heading 7210.70:

• • 7210.70.20
  • 7210.70.30
  • 7210.70.40
  • 7210.70.50

7 July 2025 — Mr Enoch Godongwana, the Minister of Finance, and Mr Edward Kieswetter, SARS Commissioner, today visited SARS’s Alberton Taxpayer Service Centre to review its state of readiness as Auto Assessment begins, running from 7 to 20 July 2025.

Minister Godongwana and Commissioner Kieswetter interacted with taxpayers, most of whom had visited the offices to update and verify their registered details, including changing emails, banking information, and cellphone numbers. Some of the taxpayers had visited the branch to settle matters related to their outstanding tax debt and returns.

SARS has started to issue Auto Assessments to taxpayers whose tax affairs are less complicated. If taxpayers agree with their Auto Assessment, no further action is required from them. Acceptance is automatic, so taxpayers need not manually accept the Auto Assessment. Taxpayers are advised to wait for the SMS/email notice before logging in to eFiling or the SARS MobiApp.

Refunds more than R100 due to taxpayers will automatically be paid into their bank accounts within 72 hours once the assessment is completed.

Filing Season 2025 opens for non-provisional and some provisional taxpayers who were not auto-assessed. The filing period for non-provisional taxpayers is from 21 July to 20 October 2025. Provisional taxpayers’ filing window will close on 19 January 2026.

The following dates should be diarised for this year’s Filing Season:

• Issuing of Auto Assessment notices:7–20 July 2025
• Individual taxpayers (non-provisional):21 July–20 October 2025
• Provisional taxpayers:21 July 2025–19 January 2026

Taxpayers are urged to be extremely careful and keep their details confidential. In the run-up to Filing Season, there will be many attempts from scammers to defraud taxpayers. Scammers can present themselves as SARS officials to steal taxpayers’ personal details, make them click on links, or pay money into an account. SARS will never ask taxpayers to use any link. Taxpayers must protect their eFiling login details and use only registered tax practitioners.

Information on the latest scams can be found on the SARS website: www.sars.gov.za. To report or request information on phishing, taxpayers can send an email to [email protected].

To avoid penalties, taxpayers must submit accurate information promptly. For a smooth and easy Filing Season 2025, taxpayers are urged to use the following communication channels with SARS:

• SARS Website: visit www.sars.gov.za and click on the “Individuals” tab.
• SARS Online Query System (SOQS): https://tools.sars.gov.za/soqs.
• SARS WhatsApp: send “Hi” or “Hello” to 0800 117 277.
• AI Virtual Assistant: available 24/7 on the SARS website to answer queries.
• Dial *134*7277#: to access SARS services.
• SARS YouTube: visit @sarstax for how-to videos.

No need to visit a SARS branch. If you must, first book an appointment to avoid long queues.

Minister Godongwana expressed his satisfaction at SARS’s state of readiness to deliver a successful and easy Filing Season for taxpayers. Commissioner Kieswetter encouraged taxpayers to use SARS’s digital channels to engage with the organisation. He said that “taxpayers do not have to expose themselves to the elements in this cold weather and stand in queues. They can conduct their tax affairs in the comfort of their homes rather than pay taxi fares”.

Picture1: SARS Alberton Service Centre Manager – Jenny Kotze, SARS Commissioner Kieswetter & Minister of Finance Godongwana

For more information, please contact [email protected].

7 July 2025 – SARS invites you to tender for the goods and/or services as detailed in the tender documents. The conditions contained in the SARS Supply Chain Management Policy and the Regulatory Framework which governs tenders at SARS are applicable to the RFP14/2025 tender process.

7 July 2025 – Our system is currently experiencing unusually high traffic volumes. We value your experience and appreciate your patience as our dedicated teams work diligently to resolve the issue and restore full service as quickly as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

7 July 2025 – The state provides state warehouses for the safekeeping of goods. These are managed by Customs. The purpose of this list of unentered goods is to notify the importer, exporter and any other person that has interest in the goods that the goods have been taken up into the State warehouse and if they remain unentered they will be disposed in accordance with the provisions of the Customs & Excise Act.

See the latest Customs Weekly List of Unentered Goods here.

7 July 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962: Updated Tables of Interest Rates

• Table 1 – Interest rates on outstanding taxes and interest rates payable on certain refunds of tax
• Table 2 – Interest rates payable on credit amounts