What’s New at SARS

20 February 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariffs amendments notice R7143, as published in Government Gazette 54173 of 20 February 2026, are now available.

19 February 2026 – The Limpopo mobile tax unit schedules for February and March 2026 are now available.

19 February 2026 – The e@syFile – ™ Employer version 8.0.1_336 release notes specify the following changes:

• Effective from the 202602-reconciliation period, the inclusion of Income Tax Reference Numbers on IRP5 certificates will be mandatory for all employees required to register under section 67 of the Income Tax Act. Employers will be unable to submit PAYE reconciliations if valid Income Tax Reference Numbers for these employees are not provided.
• Correction made to Voluntary Over Deduction and Fixed Rate Taxation Indicator fields to align with SARS PAYE BRS.

See more detail in the release notes.

19 February 2026 – The Excise payment and submission dates for 2026/2027 have been published.

19 February 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariffs amendments notice, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relates to the amendments to –

• Part 3 of Schedule No. 6, by the substitution of Note 6(b)(i) to remove the reference to the 80 per cent eligible purchases in order to give effect to a budget proposal announced by the Minister of Finance in his budget speech of 12 March 2025.

Publication details will be made available later

18 February 2026 – 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 maintenance is scheduled for:

Friday, 20 February 2026 from 20h00 to 23h00.
Saturday, 21 February 2026 from 18h00 to 20h00 and 22h00 to 23h00.
Sunday, 22 February 2026 from 05h00 to 08h00.

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

Responses (CUSRES messages) to Customs declarations submitted during this time may be delayed (on Saturday 18h00 to 20h00 and Sunday 05h00 to 08h00), however, arrival and exit management functions will be available at land border posts for all released declarations and manifests on Saturday but not on Sunday 05h00 to 08h00.

Stakeholders are therefore urged to submit all Goods Declarations (bills of entry) and Road Manifest, especially those deemed priority, by Saturday, 21 February 2026 @ 17h00 and Sunday, 22 February 2026 @ 04h00.

Note all EDI Messaging will be impacted on Sunday morning 05h00 to 08h00. It is recommended that AS2 message transmission be suspended until the EDI Bulletin Board is updated and confirmation to continue is provided. AS3 will not be impacted to send but messages will not process.

17 February 2026 – In the February 2026 issue we take a closer look at important SARS deadlines that are around the corner and the Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP).

16 February 2026 – Final External BRS V 1.5 for Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) for implementation effective 1 March 2026.

• Under the CARF Reporting Crypto-Asset Service Providers (RCASPs) are required perform due diligence for the purpose of reporting crypto data to SARS.
• The schema documentation covers:
  • CARF_SARS – specifies the SARS requirements
  • CARF_OECD – specifies the OECD standard requirements

16 February 2026 – The Final External BRS Version 3.0.0-17 for AEOI: CRS & FATCA applicable from 01 March 2026.

Changes are aligned to the:

• CRS XML Schema V.3
• Revised Common Reporting Standard (CRS) Regulations.

Amendments are as follows:

• Account Holder Demographic Data: Added new fields for Equity Interest Type and Self Certification.
• Account Holder Financial Data: Added Account Number Type, Account Type, Due Diligence Procedure, and Joint Account.
• Controlling Person Demographic Data: Added Controlling Person Type and Self Certification.
• The Reporting Financial Institution (RFI) may now submit one or more records in a single submission to SARS, provided all are NULL declaration submissions.

16 February 2026 – 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.

13 February 2026 – Effective from 1 April 2026, primary sector claimants operating onland will be entitled to claim a refund on 100% of eligible diesel used in qualifying farming, forestry, and mining activities. This amendment streamlines the administration of the Diesel Refund Scheme. To ease the transition, the new rate, which is effectively applied from the April 2026 return, will reflect only from the calendar month when this VAT return must be submitted, i.e. May 2026.

For more information, see the letter to stakeholders.

13 February 2026 – The Business Requirements Specification (BRS) for the Global Anti-Base Erosion (GLOBE) programme has now been published on the GLOBE webpage.

13 February 2026 – From 3 February 2026, you need to complete and submit the DA185 form to apply for or renew your permission to participate in these activities:

1. To possess, control, or use goods consisting of a mixture which includes marked goods as provided for in section 37A(9) and rule 37A.12.

3. Supply of aviation kerosene or aviation spirit (rebate items 460.05 / 496.00 or 623.11 / 671.01) as provided for in section 37A(9) and rule 37A.13.
4. Producing goods not capable for use in any engine as provided for in section 37A(4) and rule 37A.11.

Submit the completed DA185 form, together with the applicable annexures, at the nearest SARS branch office, to which the applicant’s business premises will be registered.

For enquiries, please send email to [email protected].

13 February 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964

• Draft amendments to rules under sections 47B and 120 – Air passenger tax

Due date for comment: 6 March 2026

13 February 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariffs amendments notices R7114, and R7115, as published in Government Gazette 54108 of 13 February 2026, are now available.

12 February 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariffs amendments notices, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relate to the amendments to –

• Part 1 of Schedule No. 1, by the substitution of tariff subheadings 1701.12, 1701.13, 1701.14, 1701.91, and 1701.99, to increase the rate of customs duty on sugar from 436.38c/kg to 483.72c/kg in terms of the existing variable tariff formula (ITAC Minute 10/2025); and
• 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 reduce the rate of customs duty on wheat and wheaten flour from 85.15c/kg and 127.72c/kg, respectively to 61.90c/kg and 92.85c/kg, in terms of the existing variable tariff formula (ITAC Minute M09/2025).

Publication details will be made available later

12 February 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication of rules amendments notice R7132, as published in Government Gazette 54129 of 12 February 2026:

• Amendment to the rules under sections 17 and 120 – State warehouse rent (DAR268)

12 February 2026 – The BRS – PAYE Employer Reconciliation for 2026 / 2027 is now available.

What has changed:

• New fields were added to prevent duplicate registrations using the ITREG process
• Validation and/or description changes to some existing source codes.

12 February 2026 – 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 maintenance is scheduled for:

Friday, 13 February 2026 from 18h00 to 23h00.

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

Responses (CUSRES messages) to Customs declarations submitted during this time may be delayed, however, arrival and exit management functions will be 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, 13 February 2026 @ 17h00.

11 February 2026 – This issue reminds Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) to submit outstanding returns, pay any tax due, and use available incentives. Qualifying businesses are also encouraged to register for Turnover tax and we look at the updated guide to supply of electronic services by foreign suppliers.