What’s New at SARS

17 April 2025 – The existing auto merge (actioned by SARS) has been enhanced to cater for likely and possible matches. A possible or likely match refers to records that match one or two key identity information fields, for example surname or name, or registered name for companies. The likely and possible matches will include companies, individuals, and trusts (Testamentary and Intervivos only).

The auto merge process will exclude the following entity records:

• Large Business and International Tax (LBI) records;
• Government institutions, municipalities, clubs, welfare organisations, collective investment schemes;
• Foreign entities registered with a passport number; and
• Estate cases.

Taxpayers will be informed of the proposed merge via a letter (similar to the previous auto merge performed by SARS), and they will still be afforded the opportunity to object against the auto merge if they are not in agreement with the proposed merge.

A request to object against the auto merge can be submitted via eFiling, at a SARS Office or through the SARS Online Query System (SOQS). Taxpayers must provide detailed reasons why a specific record should be excluded from the consolidated profile.

Updated guide:

• GEN-ELEC-15-G02 – Guide to the Auto Merge Function on eFiling – External Guide

17 April 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964

• Draft Amendments to Rules under sections 77H and 120 – Internal administrative appeal

Due date for comment: 2 May 2025

16 April 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 18.35c/kg and 27.52c/kg, respectively to 54.95c/kg and 82.42c/kg, in terms of the existing variable tariff formula (ITAC Minute M12/2024).

Publication details will be made available later

16 April 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962, and Tax Administration Act, 2011

• Sishen Iron Ore Company (Pty) Ltd v CSARS (550/2023) [2025] ZASCA 16 (5 March 2025)

Taxation – taxpayer deriving income from mining operations – whether expenditure incurred in respect of the relocation of a neighbouring residential township, expenditure incurred in respect of the relocation of certain infrastructure within the mining area, legal costs incurred with regard to the relocation of the township, and the costs of relocating a 66kV line supplying electricity to mine equipment to a new location within the mining area, deductible – special deductions provisions in s 15(a) read with s 36(7C) of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (the ITA) in respect of ‘capital expenditure’ – meaning of ‘in terms of a mining right’ and ‘other than in respect of infrastructure’ in s 36(11)(e) of the ITA – meaning of ‘mine equipment’ in s 36(11)(a) of the ITA – whether deduction for wear and tear under s 11(e) of the ITA established in respect of 66kV line – in the alternative, whether general deduction provision in s 11(a) of the ITA applies to expenditure in respect of relocation of the 66kV line – burden of proof in s 102 of Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 (TAA) – whether legal expenditure deductible in terms of s 11(c) of the ITA – whether interest in terms of s 89quat(2) of the ITA on outstanding tax on disallowed deductions a result of circumstances beyond the control of the taxpayer – whether the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Services (CSARS) should have determined, in terms of s 89quat(3) of the ITA, that interest not be paid, whether in whole or in part.

15 April 2025 – Scamsters are calling people and telling them that they have been flagged for sending suspicious packages internationally. The fraudsters have the personal information of the people that they are calling, including their names, email addresses and identity numbers.

They intimidate people by threatening them with imprisonment for being in possession of illegal documents and drugs. They tell their targets that the matter needs to be taken up with the police and the call is then transferred to what is purported to be an official government line.

People are advised to end the call immediately. If they continue with the call, the fraudsters will undoubtedly use scare tactics to further phish and bribe them. SARS Customs will not call people to request any of this information. If a client has ordered or sent a parcel, the company that handled the initial transaction will engage with their client. Information about importing and exporting, including postal goods, is available on the Imports and Exports webpages.

15 April 2025 – The submission period of the Employer Annual Reconciliation Declaration (EMP501) is now open until 31 May 2025. All reconciliation declarations must include the most up-to-date and accurate employee payroll information, as well as the tax deducted for the full tax year, from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2025.

Importantly, the employer’s annual reconciliation must be submitted by 31 May 2025 to ensure that employees’ tax assessments and pre-populated tax returns are prepared accurately.

The submission of correct and accurate employee information by employers on time contributes to the economic growth of our country.

For more information, employers can watch instructional videos on “How to submit EMP501 declarations” on our Step-by-step videos webpage.

15 April 2025 – With reference to our previous communication, enhancements to the Tax Directives system have been implemented in line with the ‘IBIR-006 Tax Directives Interface Specification Version 6.803.

We sincerely appreciate your continued support in our mission to deliver the strategic intent of providing clarity and certainty, thus making it easier for taxpayers and traders to meet their obligations. As part of this commitment, we consistently maintain and enhance our systems to ensure safe and secure digital platforms.

Thank you to those who assisted with the Trade Testing for this solution, your participation and cooperation is valued.

14 April 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• SARSTC IT 76704 (IT) [2024] ZATC CPT (24 May 2024)

Whether SARS’s rule 31 statement represented a fundamental and impermissible change of tack from its assessment and that sought to rescue SARS from the consequences of its refusal to accept the cogency of information provided to it.

11 April 2025 – The past week, nearly 450 delegates from 135 countries and jurisdictions, as well as observers from 11 International Organisations, met in Cape Town on 7-10 April at the 17th Plenary meeting of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), hosted by the government of South Africa.

The agenda included fruitful discussions on BEPS implementation, the Two-Pillar Solution to Address the Tax Challenges Arising from the Digitalisation of the Economy, and preparing a stocktake report for the G20 on the progress of BEPS implementation. In addition, new areas of common interest, such as global mobility and the interaction between tax policy, inequality and growth, will be explored. Discussions on domestic resource mobilisation also acknowledged the perspectives of developing countries, including the ongoing need for capacity building.

See more information here – Inclusive Framework concludes successful meeting in South Africa.

11 April 2025 – From 11 April 2025, the IRP3(a) – Application for a Tax Directive: Gratuities and Two-Pot Savings Withdrawals Benefit must be used by the Fund when paying a Savings Withdrawal Benefit, and on application the relief from South African tax on the Savings Withdrawal Benefit income will be considered.

For more information, see the Relief from South African tax for Pension and Annuity Income webpage and the I want a Tax Directives webpage.

11 April 2025 – The tax directive system, forms, guides and standard operating procedures have been updated to incorporate the 2025 legislative changes which include the following:

RST01 Tax Directive Application Form

•  The application for requesting relief from South African tax is now fully automated. Taxpayers who require SARS to apply the provisions of a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) for pensions and/or annuities payable from a South African Retirement Fund can now submit their application via eFiling.
• SARS will evaluate the tax directive application within 21 working days to determine if the pensions and/or annuities payable to the taxpayer will not be subject to tax in South Africa under the applicable DTA.

IRP3(a) Tax Directive Application Form

• A new reason – Backdated (Antedated) Salaries and/or Pensions, has been added to enable employers to include correct information to assist employees who wish to opt to be taxed in terms of section 7A (i.e. employees’ tax has accrued in the prior tax year(s)).
• The process for non-residents who require a DTA to be considered on the taxation of a Savings Withdrawal Benefit was included.

Form B Tax Directive Application Form

• The allowable transfers for the reasons Transfer unclaimed benefit’ and Transfer – Inactive Member with Insufficient Information were updated.
• The tax directive reason ‘Emigration Withdrawal’ was removed as the enabling provision in the Act was deleted effective from 1 September 2024.

Form C Tax Directive Application Form

• The tax directive reason ‘Emigration Withdrawal’ was removed as the enabling provision in the Act was deleted effective 1 September 2024.
• A new tax directive reason ‘Transfer before Retirement [Par 2(1)(c)] was added. With effect from 1 March 2025 paragraph 2(1)(c) read with paragraph 6A of the Second Schedule to the Act provides that a member of a retirement annuity fund, who has attained the normal retirement age, as defined in the rules of the fund, but before electing to retire from that retirement annuity fund, may transfer his or her retirement interest in that retirement annuity fund, to another retirement annuity fund.

IRP3(c) Tax Directive Application Form

• Trusts will be able to electronically apply for a tax directive allowing the annuity provider to not withhold PAYE on annuities owned by a Trust that is registered as an employer. The tax directive is issued in terms of paragraph 10 read with paragraph 11(a) of the Fourth schedule to the income Tax Act 58 of 1962, as amended.
• The trust will account to SARS for tax withheld from payments to its beneficiaries.

Updated guides:

• IT-AE-33-G01 – Tax Directive Cease to be resident and Expiry of visas – External Guide
• IT-AE-41-G01 – Completion Guide for IRP3(a) and IRP3(s) Form – External Guide
• IT-AE-41-G02 – Guide to Complete the Tax Directive Application Forms – External Guide
• IT-AE-41-G04 – Guide to the Tax Directive functionality on eFiling – External Guide

11 April 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendments notices R6108, R6109, and R6110, as published in Government Gazette 52491 of 11 April 2025, are now available.

10 April 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964 The tariffs amendments notices scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette relate to the following amendments:

With effect from 11 April 2025

• 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 286.25c/kg to 377.35c/kg in terms of the existing variable tariff formula (ITAC Minute 14/2024)

With retrospective effect from 1 January 2025

• Part 3F of Schedule No. 1, by an increase of R46 per tonne in the rate of environmental levy on carbon dioxide equivalent from R190 to R236 per tonne to give effect to the Budget proposals announced by the Minister of Finance on 12 March 2025

With retrospective effect from 1 January 2002

• Part 5A of Schedule No. 1, by the substitution of Notes 7(b) in order to provide for the newly inserted items included under item 195.13 in Part 5A of Schedule No. 1 as promulgated in the Taxation Laws Amendment Act, 2025 in Government Gazette No. 51829 on 24 December 2024

Publication details will be made available later

10 April 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Interpretation Note 20 (Issue 9) – Additional deduction for learnership agreements

10 April 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Interpretation Note 20 (Issue 8) – Additional deduction for learnership agreements

10 April 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 is scheduled for:

Friday, 11 April 2025 from 18h00 to 21h00,

Saturday, 12 April 2025 from 18h00 to 00h00.

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

9 April 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964

• JT International Manufacturing South Africa (Pty) Ltd v CSARS (1330/2023) [2025] ZASCA 37 (4 April 2025)

Interpretation: Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964 – twelve imported consignments of cigarette tobacco entered under rebate code 460.24 not entered into SAD 500 ZRW forms as required by rule 19A.09(c) – whether the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service has a discretion to exempt non-compliance with the provisions of rule 19A.09(c) in terms of s 75(10)(a) of the Customs and Excise Act.

9 April 2025 – Tax Court Judgments

• SARSTC VAT 22558 (VAT) [2025] ZATC CPT (11 February 2025)
• SARSTC IT 25209 (ADM) [2025] ZATC JHB (3 February 2025)
• SARSTC 2023-22 (ADM) [2024] ZATC JHB (27 December 2024)
• SARSTC IT 45776 (IT) [2024] ZATC JHB (29 November 2024)

Summaries are available on the Tax Court Judgments page

9 April 2025 – The Kariega and Gqeberha mobile tax unit schedules for April to June 2025 are now available.