What’s New at SARS

16 September 2025 – The September issue of the Monthly Tax Digest is now available. In this issue we look at how to update eFiling security contact details and Trust Filing Season.

15 September 2025 – National Legislation: Publication of draft Regulations for Comment

• Draft Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) Regulations
• Draft Revised Common Reporting Standard (CRS) Regulations

Due date for comment: 3 October 2025

15 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.

15 September 2025 – SARS is committed to enabling government to build a capable state to advance the wellbeing of all South Africans. Employers play a vital role in this effort. Your commitment to tax compliance directly supports the country’s economic development and growth.

As we approach the Employer Interim Reconciliation period, SARS is dedicated to giving clarity and certainty to make it easy to meet your obligations. This letter helps you navigate the upcoming reconciliation process.

Employers’ Interim Reconciliation Declarations Is Part of Filing Season

The Employer Interim Reconciliation submission period is from 22 September to 31 October 2025. During this time, all employers in the private and public sectors must reconcile their declarations for the first six months of the reconciliation year (1 March 2025 to 31 August 2025) and submit these on eFiling or e@syFile™ Employer. Employers with less than 50 employees may use eFiling.

To submit a correct and complete reconciliation, your EMP501 must reflect:

• PAYE, UIF, and SDL values from your previously submitted EMP201 returns, which will prepopulate in the EMP501. Where these values differ from the interim IRP5/IT3(a) certificates generated, employers must amend the prepopulated figures to the correct amounts.
• Payments made during the period (excluding any penalties and interest); and
• Accurate payroll information together with the IRP5/IT3(a) tax certificates for the period 1 March 2025 to 31 August 2025.

Key Changes for 2025

• Software update: use the new e@syFile. For the 2025 Employer Interim Reconciliation, the e@syFile Thin Client is now the primary submission channel for all employers. The “Flex” version is being phased out and can no longer be used for submissions, except for enquiries about historic data. Employers are encouraged to use the “Retrieve Certificate Detail” function to transfer certificate data from e@syFile Flex to e@syFile Thin Client. A step-by-step guide is available on the SARS website to assist with this process.
• Business Requirements Specification (BRS) updated to version 24.0.2. This update introduced new source codes, changes to validation rules, and amendments to some source code descriptions. Employers and payroll administrators are encouraged to review the updated BRS to ensure their payroll systems and submissions are fully compliant with the latest requirements.

Enforcement of Income Tax Numbers

From the February 2026 employer filing season, Income Tax numbers will be strictly enforced in e@syFile™ Employer. Employers will no longer be able to submit reconciliations without valid Income Tax numbers for all employees. Please refer to BRS – PAYE Employer Reconciliation for 2025 / 2026 for the latest rules.

To prepare:

• Use the ITREG/BundleReg process on eFiling or e@syFile™, the Tax Reference Number Enquiry Service on eFiling, or visit a SARS Service Center (with an appointment) to register or request employees’ numbers.
• Use Tax Reference Number (TRN) Enquiry Services on eFiling
• Individuals can register or retrieve their own tax numbers on the SARS website under the “Individuals” section.

Failure to comply will result in administrative penalties. Employers are urged to take proactive steps now to avoid delays in submissions, rejection of reconciliations, or penalties being applied.

Submission Channels

To make the reconciliation process easier, SARS provides different submission options for different-sized employers.

• Employers with 50 or fewer employees can use either SARS eFiling or e@syFile™ Employer. If the employer has 50 or fewer IRP5/IT3(a) certificates, a tax-certificate file can be generated from the payroll system and this file can be imported into SARS eFiling.
• Employers with 50 employees or more are required to use e@syFile™ Employer to file their EMP501 declarations.
• Employers with five or fewer IRP5/IT3(a) certificates can visit their nearest SARS Service Centre, where a SARS agent will help capture the EMP501 and related certificates. Please remember to book an appointment before visiting a SARS Service Centre.

 Accuracy and Timely Filing Are Critical

Submitting accurate declarations on time leads to a smooth reconciliation process and helps avoid unnecessary penalties, such as:

• Possible penalties and interest for incorrect calculations. Incorrect calculation of the monthly PAYE liability could result in the imposition of both penalties and interest. This includes corrections made on the EMP501 reconciliation, because any shortfall is attributed to the last month of the reconciliation period.
• Late submission penalties. Employers must submit an accurate EMP501 using e@syFile™ Employer or SARS eFiling by 31 October 2025 to avoid penalties.

Consequences of Non-compliance

Failure to comply with reconciliation requirements carries serious consequences:

• Late submission of an EMP501 will result in administrative penalties equal to 1% of your annual PAYE liability. This penalty increases by 1% for every month the return remains outstanding, up to a maximum of 10%.
• ETI employers with unused ETI will forfeit the ETI for non-submission or where the employer has a non-compliant status.
• Employers who wilfully or negligently fail to submit EMP201 or EMP501 returns will be guilty of an offence. Upon conviction, they will be liable for a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.

 What Constitutes a Criminal Offence?

Employers will face a fine or imprisonment for up to two years if they:

• Fail to deduct employees’ tax (PAYE) from remuneration or fail to pay the deducted tax to SARS within the prescribed period;
• Do not deliver IRP5 or IT3(a) certificates to employees or former employees within the prescribed deadlines; or
• Use employees’ deducted tax for purposes other than paying the correct amount to SARS.

Remember to Check Your Submission Status

Employers must check the status of submissions regularly after submission to ensure that their EMP501 was correct and accurate when filed with SARS. The PAYE Dashboard should also be consulted. This step offers employers certainty that they have no outstanding obligations.

More Information

For  more information about completing manual certificates, employers can go to the e@syFile™ Employer User Guide or access the Step-by-Step Guide to the Employer Reconciliation Process.

12 September 2025 – As the 2025 tax season is nearing its deadlines, staying up to date with the latest tools and deadlines is essential for efficient tax management. In this edition, we introduce the innovative SARS Tax Return Status Dashboard, designed to give taxpayers, representatives, and practitioners real-time insight into the progress of Personal Income Tax returns – eliminating the need for lengthy calls or in-person visits. You’ll also find important information regarding Trust Income Tax updates, including key dates and procedural details to ensure you remain compliant and prepared. Read on for a streamlined overview of these essential topics and make the most of the resources available to you this tax season.

12 September 2025 – As the 2025 tax season is nearing its deadlines, staying up to date with the latest tools and deadlines is essential for efficient tax management. In this edition, we introduce the innovative SARS Tax Return Status Dashboard, designed to give taxpayers, representatives, and practitioners real-time insight into the progress of Personal Income Tax returns – eliminating the need for lengthy calls or in-person visits. You’ll also find important information regarding Trust Income Tax updates, including key dates and procedural details to ensure you remain compliant and prepared. Read on for a streamlined overview of these essential topics and make the most of the resources available to you this tax season.

12 September 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariffs amendments notices R6594, R6595, R6596 and R6597, as published in Government Gazette 53334 of 12 September 2025, are now available.

12 September 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964:

• Draft amendments to rules under sections 40, 41 and 120 – Insertion of rules under sections 40 and 41 relating to the manner in which bills of entry may be adjusted where customs value declared is affected by transfer pricing adjustments

Due date for comment: 3 October 2025

12 September 2025 – SARS holds exclusive rights to its trademarks, including logos, names, and official insignia. These trademarks are important assets that symbolize trust, authority, and the integrity of SARS’s services.  We encourage you to take a few minutes to view our latest educational video. Understanding the importance of intellectual property not only protects SARS but also helps preserve the integrity of our collective interactions.

12 September 2025 – SARS is readying systems and teams to implement the Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) Model Rules, introducing a global minimum tax for large multinationals. The initiative promotes fair taxation, voluntary compliance, and streamlined reporting through eFiling.

Discover more about the GloBE framework and how it affects multinational entities here.

12 September 2025 – The facility codes used in Box 30 on the Customs Clearance Declaration (CCD) have been updated to include details of the new approved terminal Transnet SOC Ltd located in Port Elizabeth.
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

11 September 2025 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) reminds trustees and the public of the official filing season for trusts that runs from 20 September 2025 to 19 January 2026.

All trusts must file a tax return annually, including those that are not economically active. A trust is included under the definition of a “person” in terms of the Income Tax Act, no.58 of 1962, and is therefore regarded as a taxpayer. A trustee is the representative taxpayer of a trust and is liable to file on behalf of the trust or appoint a registered tax practitioner to do so.

A provisional taxpayer is any person who receives income, or to whom income accrues, other than remuneration. Trustees should be aware of the requirements to submit provisional tax returns. In addition, trustees are also required to submit an IT3(t) third-party data return that provide details of amounts vested to beneficiaries. This return is due by 30 September 2025. For further details, visit the SARS website.

Trustees must submit their returns and mandatory supporting documents during filing. These documents include the trust instrument, annual financial statements, Letters of Authority, resolutions/minutes of trustee meetings, and an organogram depicting the beneficial ownership of the trust. Additionally, beneficiaries of trusts should declare their income, including income derived from a trust, in their personal income tax returns.

SARS has made it easy for taxpayers to comply through online filing. The Personal Income Tax Return (ITR12) and Trust Income Tax Return (ITR12T) are available on eFiling. Alternatively, an appointment to visit a SARS Service Centre can be made on the SARS website. Please take note that there are specific requirements should you wish to submit your tax return at a SARS Service Centre. Taxpayers are encouraged to refer to the SARS website for further information on their tax obligations, including trusts, and Provisional Tax.

SARS takes a zero-tolerance approach to taxpayers who do not register for the applicable tax, file tax returns, declare income accurately, or pay their tax debt. Non-compliance with these obligations is a criminal offence and will attract penalties and interest.

For more information, contact [email protected].

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

With retrospective effect from 30 May 2025

• Amendment to Schedule No. 1, by the substitution of paragraph 1 of General Note O, to include Nigeria as part of the State Parties in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement

With effect from 12 September 2025

• Amendment to Schedule No.1, by the substitution of General Note O.8 as well as the insertion of General Note O.9 in order to suspend the preferential treatment on products classifiable under tariff subheading 0902.40 imported from Kenya under the AfCFTA
• Amendment to Part 2 of Schedule No. 4, by the insertion of rebate item 460.15/7306.40/01.06 in order to provide for a temporary rebate provision on stainless-steel tubing used in the manufacture and maintenance of state-of-the-art processing plants for the hygienic and liquid food industries (ITAC Report No. 742)
• Amendment to Part 2 of Schedule No. 4, by the insertion of rebate item 460.06/1516.20.90/01.08 in order to provide for a temporary rebate provision on palm oil, not fractionated, partly of wholly hydrogenated, whether or not refined, but not further prepared, for use in the manufacture of soaps and organic surface-active products and preparations, in the form of bars, cakes, moulded pieces or shapes, classifiable in tariff subheading 3401.1 (ITAC Report No. 739)

Publication details will be made available later

11 September 2025 – Are you struggling with outstanding tax debt? Let us help you to ease the burden. Watch our easy step-by-step video ‘Managing Outstanding Tax Debt‘.

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

Tariff headings 9201, 9202, 9205, 9206, 9207, 9208, 9209 do not require an ITAC import permit.

10 September 2025 – Trust tax season opens 20 September 2025. Income Tax Returns for Trusts (ITR12T) must be filed on eFiling by 19 January 2026. IT3(t) — returns for trusts which declare amounts vested to beneficiaries’ income — are due by 30 September 2025.

Trustees or tax practitioners must register all trusts — resident and non-resident — for Income Tax, whether active or passive:

Steps:

• Submit the trust-registration form and supporting documents on the SARS Online Query System (SOQS).
• Register the trust for eFiling and update details before filing.
• Customise and file ITR12T returns online, including supporting documents.

For updates and guidance, visit the Trusts webpage and follow SARS on social media.

8 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.

5 September 2025 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has noted information circulating in public regarding taxation of social influencers. SARS wishes to clarify its position with respect to this category. SARS’s legal mandate is to collect all revenue that is due to the state, improve tax compliance, and facilitate legitimate trade.

SARS delivers this mandate through its strategic intent to develop and administer a tax and customs system based on voluntary compliance. Principally, SARS’s compliance theory is underpinned by an assumption that all taxpayers are honest and want to be assisted to comply with their obligations.

To help honest taxpayers who are willing to comply, SARS:

1. Provides clarity and certainty to taxpayers and traders of their tax obligations.
2. Makes it easy for taxpayers and traders to comply.

SARS is aware that not all taxpayers’ needs are the same. SARS is organised into segments, enabling the organisation to serve various taxpayers’ needs. Complementing this segmentation is our use of data to augment efforts to deepen a culture of voluntary compliance while managing risks.

SARS has been expanding its segmentation model. SARS recognises standard taxpayers (comprising taxpayers with a single income and simple returns); Large and International Businesses; High Wealth Individuals; Public Benefit Organisations; Prominent and Related Entities; Estates; Tax Practitioners; and Employers.

The latest additions to this segmentation model are National and Provincial Government; Social Influencers; and the Gig Economy. The segment of social influencers is composed of modern entrepreneurs, who can be classified as sole proprietors or independent contractors. These are technologically savvy individuals who have identified a niche in the market to provide a generalised offering that leverages their social following. When managing this segment, SARS will handle each such situation on a case-by-case basis according to current income-tax brackets. Some of these cases may generally fall into the provisional-taxpayer category.

For each of these segments, SARS has an engagement model whose first step is to provide clarity and certainty and to make it easy for taxpayers to comply. We work with and through stakeholders and partners to deliver SARS’s mandate. This segment format will specifically serve this group of taxpayers and ensure compliance. For this group, awareness of one’s tax obligations is key.

In terms of the new segments, such as the social influencers’ economy, SARS understands that traditional marketing campaigns are increasingly digitising through smart technologies. SARS is generally finding that most marketing budgets are contracting social personalities to lend their image to digital platforms. This is a shift away from established marketing houses toward individuals with a sizeable following. As the marketing spend-mix changes in response to these shifts, SARS is also adapting its educational and compliance initiatives. Undeniably, digitisation and attendant economic activities have fundamentally changed the world of work, and the gig and sharing economy are critical in this respect.

Tax brackets are determined by income as defined in Section 1 of the Income Tax Act, 58 of 1962 (ITA). Third-party data play a crucial role in determining where each taxpayer must be allocated in terms of income bracket. It must be reiterated that it remains the social influencers’ legal obligation to declare all income received.

Full voluntary disclosure is critical. No matter how social influencers are remunerated — whether with products, services, or travel — all of these are deemed as income (ITA) and must be taxed accordingly. In line with our compliance theory, SARS believes that taxpayers are honest: when they are clear and certain of their obligations, they comply voluntarily. SARS believes that social influencers will declare honestly when adequately educated. In this regard, SARS has prepared products and videos to help these taxpayers to meet their obligations. SARS aims to do much more in terms of outreach and education. It will also provide seminars and webinars as well as rulings to educate taxpayers about their obligations.

Although the social-influencer segment has its own nuances, it is no different to other taxpayer segments in that income earned must be disclosed and taxed. Freelance work is similar. Citizens working as social influencers are encouraged to declare income earned from brand collaboration, sponsored content, and affiliate marketing, whether they have been paid in cash, products, or services. These taxpayers, like all others, are making a significant contribution to the health of our country and its democracy.

Edward Kieswetter, SARS Commissioner, said that “SARS is looking forward to working with this segment to provide clarity and certainty, but also to provide them with a seamless taxpayer experience”. He stressed that “SARS is more than willing to assist honest taxpayers to comply with their tax obligations. I am reminding social influencers to uphold their end of the bargain”.

For further information, please contact [email protected].

4 September 2025 – On 3 September 2025, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) led a collaborative intelligence-driven operation that resulted in the detention and seizure of narcotics with an estimated street value of R56 million.

A Customs Marine Patrol vessel intercepted a cargo ship near the Fairway Bouy at outer anchorage approximately 4 nautical miles of the East coast of Durban and escorted it to its berth in the harbour. Customs enforcement officers boarded the vessel and located a number of containers identified prior to the arrival of the vessel as posing a potential risk for smuggling.

The inspection resulted in the discovery of 25 large bricks of suspected cocaine hidden in the refrigeration units of several containers. A field drug test was conducted and positively identified the goods as cocaine of a very high quality suitable for further dilution and expansion into larger volumes for illicit distribution. Customs seized the goods and handed it over to the South African Police Service (SAPS) for further safe keeping, investigation and prosecution.

Mr. Edward Kieswetter, SARS Commissioner, commended the officers for their efforts to not only disrupt the criminal infiltration of narcotics into the country, but also to protect society from its harmful effects. He said that “this success points to the success of collaboration with our counterparts from Brazil. It is such collaboration that communicates concrete cooperation within BRICS countries that deal a heavy blow against organised crime syndicates. This achievement also signals that the efforts by all law enforcement agencies in our county is taking on the challenge of protecting our borders”.

For further information, please contact [email protected].

3 September 2025: Tax Administration Act, 2011

• CSARS v HR Focus CC (CA 118/2024) [2025] ZAECMKHC (20 August 2025)

Whether the taxpayer is the employer of the 4 500 personnel outsourced to the taxpayer’s clients.