What’s New at SARS

29 September 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Interpretation Note 119 – Deductions in respect of improvements to land or buildings not owned by a taxpayer

29 September 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.

26 September 2025 – SARS and the OTO note with concern the recent article published by Sowetan regarding the rising number of SARS eFiling profiles reportedly hijacked by cyber-fraud criminals, resulting in significant financial losses for taxpayers. At the time of the article’s publication, the OTO had not yet released the draft report for public comment, and the article contained a number of factual inaccuracies.

The two organisations are established in law to fulfil distinct yet mutually reinforcing roles for the sole benefit of taxpayers and the tax finance system for the country.

SARS not only respects but considers the role of the OTO as an indispensable partner to ensure the functioning of the tax ecosystem is fair and beyond reproach. In this regard SARS has and continues to work hard to address whatever complaints that have been laid with the OTO. The two institutions play a paramount role in the functioning of tax administration.  Each institution respects the other’s mandate, while both being the cornerstone for the fiscal integrity of South Africa tax ecosystem. The OTO will be issuing its draft report on 1 October 2025, now that an intensive and extensive engagement with all the role players has been completed.

SARS and the OTO wish to assure the public that protecting taxpayers’ information and maintaining the integrity of the tax system remain our highest priorities.

Key Points:

1. Acknowledgement of the Issue

The OTO has been investigating cases of profile compromise for over a year, following numerous complaints from taxpayers and tax practitioners.

2. Growth of Cyber Crime

The organisation observed that in today’s digitally interconnected environment, cybersecurity risks have escalated dramatically, posing significant threats to individuals, businesses, and institutions. As personal and financial transactions increasingly migrate online, malicious actors exploit vulnerabilities in authentication protocols, data-sharing mechanisms, and user behaviour to perpetrate identity theft, fraud, and unauthorised system access. Even routine activities, such as accessing tax platforms or updating banking details, have become potential gateways for exploitation. Within the South African tax administration context, these risks are particularly acute. SARS, as the custodian of revenue collection and refunds payment, is a prime target for those with nefarious intent.

3. Collaboration Between SARS and OTO

SARS and the OTO maintain a strong and cooperative relationship. Both institutions are aligned in their objective to protect taxpayers and restore confidence in the eFiling system.

4. Security Measures and Ongoing Efforts

SARS continuously enhances security protocols to mitigate risks and prevent unauthorised access.  We encourage taxpayers to exercise vigilance by safeguarding their login details and promptly reporting suspicious activity.

5. Investigation Report and Public Engagement

The release of the OTO’s draft report has been delayed allowing SARS to provide detailed input on preliminary findings, ensuring a comprehensive and balanced analysis. Whilst consultations have been extensive between the parties, parts of the draft may still carry areas of difference, which is to be expected in any review of this nature. This cooperative approach aims to strengthen the report’s recommendations and foster meaningful improvements. The OTO will publish the draft report on 1 October 2025.

6. Reaffirming Commitment to Taxpayers

Both SARS and the OTO reiterate their unwavering commitment to enabling taxpayers to comply with their obligations safely and confidently. We urge taxpayers to remain cautious and report any irregularities through official SARS channels.

The Commissioner said that “We respect that the final report by the OTO will be made public soon, and SARS remain committed to continue its engagement with the public on its substance. The public must be assured though, that SARS continue to work with diligence to ensure the highest level of integrity and protection to taxpayers who uses the SARS digital platform”.

The Tax Ombud said that: “The OTO takes the hijacking of taxpayer eFiling profiles very seriously. As an independent institution, the OTO ensures objective oversight and the fair treatment of taxpayers. The OTO upcoming draft report reflects extensive engagement with all stakeholders and is aimed at driving real, practical solutions.”

Issued jointly by:
South African Revenue Service (SARS) and Office of the Tax Ombud (OTO)

For further information please contact [email protected].  and/or [email protected]

26 September 2025 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) encourages all taxpayers who are due to make payments to do so by the earliest available date to avoid unnecessary delays, penalties and interests for late payment.

All taxpayers who will be making payments to SARS through various platforms such as eFiling, EFT and payments at Banks can be confident that these payment platforms are robust, secure and safe. These digital platforms conform to internationally recognised standards, and they are user friendly – enabling taxpayers to transact with SARS and comply with their legal obligations.

SARS urges taxpayers to remain extremely vigilant and keep their personal details confidential. Your credentials on all financial platforms are continuously at risk. There have been many attempts by scammers to defraud taxpayers. Taxpayers are reminded that SARS will never ask them to use any link to engage with it. All eFiling users must protect their login details and use only registered tax practitioners.

The month of September represents the halfway mark to the financial year, and SARS wishes to thank all taxpayers who diligently contribute to the fiscus through their tax payments.

For further information please contact [email protected].

26 September 2025 – The Prohibited and Restricted Imports and Exports list has been updated.

• Tariff heading 8523.52.10 no longer requires a letter of authority from NRCS.
• The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has changed to Department of Electricity and Energy.

25 September 2025 – We are experiencing intermittent connectivity issues on SARS eFiling and the SARS MobiApp. The technical teams are currently working on resolving the issue. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

25 September 2025 – The North West mobile tax unit schedule for October 2025 is now available.

25 September 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.

23 September 2025 – The public is informed about a simulation exercise taking place at the Skilpadshek and Pioneer Border Posts on Tuesday 23 September 2025 for a few hours in the morning. The purpose of the exercise is to bring awareness to border officials and the public regarding the handling of road incidents that involve dangerous goods.  More information in the Trans Kalahari Corridor Secretariat press release. 

22 September 2025 – The Western Cape mobile tax unit schedule for October 2025 is now available.

19 September 2025 – Several legislative and form changes have been introduced to the Income Tax Return for trusts (ITR12T). The trust filing season is starting tomorrow, Saturday 20 September 2025.

Updated guides:

• IT-AE-36-G02 – Comprehensive Guide to the Income Tax Return for Trusts – External Guide
• IT-AE-37-G02 – Step by Step Guide to complete your Trust return via eFiling – External Guide

The enhancements are including but not limited to the following:

Section 1 of the Income Tax Act – Definition of a trust

The definition of a trust has been amended, and it now includes a portfolio of a collective investment scheme and a portfolio of a hedge fund collective investment scheme. 

Section 6quat(1A) (a)(iii) of the Income Tax Act

With effect from 1 March 2025, trusts may claim foreign tax credits on income or capital gains earned abroad. The credit must not exceed the portion of South African tax related to that income. If the foreign tax paid is higher, the excess will be carried forward for up to six years, and SARS will track and maintain these carryover amounts to prevent double taxation. 

Section 25B of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 – Taxation of non-resident beneficiaries of trusts

With effect from 1 March 2025, section 25B was amended to limit the flow-through principle to resident beneficiaries only. This means that all income and capital gains distributed to non-resident beneficiaries will be taxed in the hands of the trust. As a result, trusts with non-resident beneficiaries may be required to submit IRP6 returns to meet provisional tax obligations.

Section 12H of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 – Learnership agreements

The current sunset date of 1 April 2024 was extended to 31 March 2027.

Section 25B(4) – (6) of the Income Tax Act – Limitation of losses

• A new wizard question has been added to address the limitation of losses in terms of section 25B(4) – (6).
• The intention of the question is to ascertain how s25B(4)-(6) impacts on the calculation of net income of a trust and may be used to improve the return in future years for such scenarios.

Beneficial Ownership

• The beneficial owner category has been updated to include an unnamed beneficiary. If this category is selected, details of the unnamed beneficiary(ies) must be included in the free text field provided.
• A new question namely, “Is the founder deceased?” has been added on the beneficial owner section of the return to address a common issue raised where the founder is deceased. This is mandatory to complete if founder is selected as the beneficial owner category. 

Form Wizard and field amendments included but are not limited to:

• Trust details section has been updated to include a question for the trust to confirm if the youngest beneficiary is younger than 18 years at the end of the year of assessment, if the trust is classified as a special (b) trust.
• Capital Gain / Loss section to confirm if the trust is a bewind or vesting trust.
• Trust participation section has been updated to include a question for the trust to confirm if a IT3(t) return was submitted to SARS.
• Taxable in Trust vested and not vested in foreign beneficiary fields has been updated to include “i.t.o. s25B” under all income fields for local and foreign income.
• Farming and Farming Partnership containers has been amended to include new fields as per legislation updates and to make it simpler to complete.
• Special Depreciation and Capital Improvement containers has been moved to after Enhanced Renewable Energy – s12BA container to improve readability and usability.

eFiling enhancements also include:

• A verification message to confirm if the youngest beneficiary is younger than 18 years at the end of the year of assessment, if the trust is classified as a special (b) trust.
• The refresh functionality has been enhanced to include farming information (IT48 and IT48V) from the previous year of assessment.

For more information, see the Trusts webpage.

19 September 2025 – The following enhancements have been implemented for Employer Interim Declarations (EMP501) from 22 September 2025 to 31 October 2025:

• New source codes have been added to the IRP5/IT3(a) certificate;
• Changes to field types and validations;
• Enhancements to EMP501 Reconciliation process;
• Re-introduction of Pro-forma EMP501 Reconciliation;
• Updates to Employment Tax Incentive (ETI) account;
• Enhancements to e@syFile software;
• Validation of ITREG eFiling registration;
• Changes to SARS Letters and Forms.

For more information see the updated guides:

• PAYE-AE-06-G06 – Guide for Codes Applicable applicable to Employees Tax Certificate 2026 – External Guide
• PAYE-AE-06-G07 – Guide for Validation Rules Applicable to Reconciliation Declarations 2026 – External Guide
• PAYE-GEN-01-G05 – Guide for Employers in respect of Employment Tax Incentive – External Guide
• EMP-GEN-02-G01 – A Guide to the Employer Reconciliation Process – External Guide
• PAYE-AE-06-G08 – Guide for Completion and Submission of Employees Tax Certificates 2026 – External Guide
• GEN-PEN-05-G02 – Guide to submit a dispute via eFiling – External Guide
• PAYE-easyFile-G01 – e@syfile™TC Employer Guide – External Guide

19 September 2025 – Kindly note that scheduled maintenance will affect OTPs sent via email on Saturday, 20 September 2025, between 14:00 and 22:00. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

19 September 2025 – Want to know how to claim for a Medical Deduction? Watch our latest Medical Deduction step-by-step video on what you can claim and what can’t be claimed. It will show you how to fill in the medical fields on your ITR12 tax return wizard on eFiling.

19 September 2025 – For the 2025 tax year, Income Tax Returns for Trusts (ITR12T) must be filed on eFiling from 20 September 2025 to 19 January 2026. IT3(t) — returns for trusts which declare amounts vested to beneficiaries’ income — are due by 30 September 2025 for the 2025 year of assessment.

Key updates: trust definition; learnership agreements; foreign tax credits; and new tax rules for amounts given to non-resident beneficiaries. Updated forms improve reporting for farming operations and partnerships, which require clearer declarations about trust structures and beneficial owners.

Dates:

• 31 Aug 2025: first provisional-tax payment (2026 year of assessment)
• 20 Sep 2025: trust tax-filing season opens (ITR12T)
• 30 Sep 2025: deadline for IT3(t) returns and top-up provisional payment (2025 year of assessment)
• 19 Jan 2026: final ITR12T submission deadline (provisional and non-provisional trusts)
• 28 Feb 2026: second provisional tax payment (2026 year of assessment)

Trustees or representatives must register all resident and non-resident trusts for Income Tax and file Income Tax Returns for trusts (ITR12T) as required by the Income Tax Act of 1962. Beneficiaries must declare all trust income on their tax returns (ITR12, ITR12T, or ITR14).

Timely filing is essential. See the Trusts webpage for more information.

18 September 2025 – The facility codes used in Box 30 on the Customs Clearance Declaration (CCD) have been updated to include details of the following companies:

• Degrouping Facility Tri Ridge Freight and Logistics (Pty) Ltd located at O. R. Tambo International Airport; and
• Container Depot Safcor Freight (Pty) Ltd located in Pretoria.

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

18 September 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 maintenance are scheduled for:

Friday, 19 September 2025 from 18:00 to 23:00

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

17 September 2025 – Any person who receives income other than a salary/remuneration, is a provisional taxpayer.  Most salary earners are therefore not-provisional taxpayers if they have no other sources of income. For more information and to see how to pay Provisional Tax, watch our latest step-by-step video.

16 September 2025 – The KZN mobile tax unit schedule for October 2025 is now available.

16 September 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