What’s New at SARS

30 April 2026 – SARS has identified a few challenges experienced by employers during the submission and processing of AA88 Third-Party Appointment notices.

The AA88 Employer Guide has been updated to address these challenges and provide clearer guidance in the following areas:

• Application synchronisation – Enhanced guidance and troubleshooting steps have been included to help employers resolve synchronisation issues and identify the most recent AA88 records after synchronisation.
• Employee filtering – Additional explanations have been provided to help employers filter employee records more effectively.
• Bulk payments – The guide has been updated to reflect the corrected bulk payment process and includes clearer instructions to support successful processing.
• Status outcome updates for ITA88 – The guide now clearly explains the system limitation related to ITA88 notices and provides guidance on the manual process required where automated status updates are not supported.

Updated guide – IT-easyFile-G01 – Third Party Appointment AA88 e@syFile™TC Employer Guide – External Guide.

30 April 2026 – Tax Administration Act, 2011

•  Notice to submit returns for the 2026 year of assessment

30 April 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendments notices, R7417, R7418, and 7419, as published in Government Gazette 54595 of 30 April 2026, are now available.

29 April 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendments notices, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relate to the following amendments:

With effect from 30 April 2026

• Part 1 of Schedule No. 1, by the deletion of tariff subheadings 3917.39.20 and 3917.39.90 and the insertion of tariff subheadings 3917.39.21, 3917.39.23, 3917.39.93 and 3917.39.99 in order to increase the rate of customs duty on tubes, pipes and hoses of polymers of ethylene, seamless, with fittings, multi-layered, having an intermediate layer of aluminium and with an outside diameter not exceeding 32 mm from 15% to 20% (ITAC Report 760)
• Part 2A of Schedule No. 1, by the substitution of item 116.10.10/8543.40.10, in order to increase the rate of excise duty from R3.18/ml to R3.29/ml

With retrospective effect from 1 April 2025

• Part 2 of Schedule No. 4, by the substitution of rebate item 460.03/0207.14.9/01.07, in order to increase the annual quota for frozen bone-in cuts of the species Gallus Domesticus originating in or imported from the United States of America from 71 963 tonnes to 73 881 tonnes (ITAC Minute M12/2025)

Publication details will be made available later

28 April 2026 – Welcome to this edition of our newsletter for Government employees. In this issue, we share key updates from SARS, including the milestone of exceeding R2 trillion in net revenue, enhancements to the tax practitioner registration and verification process, and important filing and submission windows for employers and third-party data providers. We also highlight recent guidance on trust deregistration and forthcoming administrative non-compliance penalties and wrap up with a few useful links to the VAT Chat podcast series.

28 April 2026 – Welcome to this edition of our newsletter for tax practitioners. In this issue, we share key updates from SARS, including the milestone of exceeding R2 trillion in net revenue, enhancements to the tax practitioner registration and verification process, and important filing and submission windows for employers and third-party data providers. We also highlight recent guidance on trust deregistration and forthcoming administrative non-compliance penalties and wrap up with a few useful links to the VAT Chat podcast series.

28 April 2026 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Draft Interpretation Note – Deduction in respect of production of battery electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles

Due date for comment: 28 May 2026

28 April 2026 – Value-Added Tax Act, 1991

• VAT Ruling 021 – VAT treatment of donor funds

28 April 2026 – Value-Added Tax Act, 1991

• VAT Ruling 020 – Consideration

28 April 2026 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• BASF South Africa Pty (Ltd) v CSARS (A2024/024644) [2026] ZAGPJHC 275 (13 March 2026)

Whether the Tax Court was correct in granting SARS leave to amend its rule 31 statement and refusing BASF leave to amend its rule 32 statement – whether SARS’s proposed amendments constituted an impermissible novation of the legal and factual basis of the additional assessment on transfer pricing transaction issued under section 31(2) of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 (as it read in 2011).

24 April 2026 – The SARS Johannesburg CBD service centre will be relocating to the Newtown Junction Mall and re-opening at 9am on 4 May 2026.

The current Service centre will be closing at 12 noon on 30 April 2026. The new physical address is Shop 137 (Level 1), 100 Carr Street, Newtown Junction Mall, Johannesburg. It will be operating under the new name of SARS Newtown JHB Service Centre.

24 April 2026 – In this issue we take a closer look at key Budget speech highlights changes affecting SMMEs and Employer Filing Season that opened on 1 April 2026 and closes on 31 May 2026.

23 April 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendments notice R7389, as published in Government Gazette 54572 of 23 April 2026, are now available.

23 April 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, 24 April 2026 from 18h00 to 22h00,

Sunday, 26 April 2026 from 10h00 to 20h00.

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

22 April 2026 – The facility codes used in Box 30 on the Goods Declaration have been updated to include the Laser Transport Group (Pty) Ltd and Grindrod Logistics depots located in Durban, as well as the Avio Clearing and Forwarding (Pty) Ltd degrouping facility located at OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA).

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

22 April 2026 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendments notice, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relates to the amendments to –

• Part 1 of Schedule No. 2, by the insertion of various items under item 216.01, in order to impose anti-dumping duties on fully automatic top load machines, of a dry linen capacity exceeding 10 kg but less than 17 kg, classifiable under tariff subheading 8450.20.20 originating in or imported from the People’s Republic of China and the Kingdom of Thailand (ITAC Report 772).

Publication details will be made available later

22 April 2026 – Income Tax Act, 1962

• Absa Bank Ltd and Another v CSARS (CCT 72/24) [2026] ZACC 15 (22 April 2026)

Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 — statutory interpretation — sections 80A to L — impermissible avoidance arrangement — Tax benefit — party to an arrangement — knowledge of arrangement — appeal dismissed with costs

22 April 2026 – During the 2024 Filing Season, SARS issued a notice implementing a new requirement for taxpayers who are in a partnership to declare the details of his or her partners on the ITR12, in line with the beneficial-owner regulations. This declaration is required by the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act 22 of 2022.

However, this created a significant administrative challenge as each partner had to provide details about every other partner, excluding themselves, on the annual Income Tax Return (ITR12).

To simplify the process, SARS is launching a single eFiling form, the Beneficial Owner Register IT3(BO). A designated partnership representative must use this form annually to register, fill out, and submit all partners’ information for the partnership. As a result, individual partners will no longer need to enter all partner details on the ITR12. Once the partnership representative submits the Partnership IT3(BO), SARS will issue an IT3(BO) unique number after processing the IT3(BO) form. Partners can use only this IT3(BO) unique number to declare partnership details on the ITR12.

How Does It Work?

1. Nominate and submit: The partnership must nominate a representative to access the IT3(BO) form on eFiling and complete the details of all partners. Once all the information is captured, the form must be submitted to SARS.
2.  SARS issues the IT3(BO) number: SARS will issue a “Beneficial Owner Register for Partnership Notice (IT3[BO])” to the appointed representative. This notice includes the IT3(BO) unique number for the partnership. The partnership IT3(BO) unique number must then be used to retrieve the previously submitted partnership details, so that updates can be made and submitted to SARS.
3.  Partners receive notification: SARS will also issue a “Beneficial Owner Partner in a Partnership Notice” to the partners that includes the IT3(BO) unique number. The partner must use the IT3(BO) unique number when declaring partnership details in their annual Income Tax Return (ITR12).

REMEMBER: The IT3(BO) form must be submitted annually by the designated representative. Each partner can use just the unique IT3(BO) number to declare partner details on the ITR12.

For more detail, see the IT-AE-36-G07 – Guide to the Beneficial Owner Register for Partnership IT3BO Form – External Guide.

22 April 2026 – SARS will host a webinar aimed at supporting employers with their Employer Reconciliation (EMP501) submission and related processes for the 2026 Employer Filing Season.

The webinar seeks to educate employers on recent updates to the employer reconciliation process and provides guidance on the accurate submission of EMP501 returns using the e@syFile Employer software. This initiative supports SARS’s commitment to providing clarity and certainty for taxpayers and making it easier for them to meet their tax obligations.

Topics to be covered include:

• Overview of the e@syFile Employer system and its core functions
• Installation and setup processes
• Data management and certificate retrieval
• Reconciliation submission and resubmission procedures
• Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Webinar Details
Date: Thursday, 23 April 2026
Time: 17:00–19:00
Platforms: Zoom & YouTube

Register in advance using the link below:
https://sars-gov-za.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jk_aEYlPTlCYsmrvUGQT8Q
Meeting ID: 939 2263 4148
Passcode: 212293

After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email with details on how to access the webinar and submit questions during the session. The webinar will also be recorded and made available on the SARS TV YouTube channel.

If you missed it, see the recorder webinar on SARS TV.

Presentations:

• e@syfile Presentation
• Employer Reconciliation Process on eFiling Presentation

21 April 2026 – High Court Judgments

• X and Another v CSARS (A117/2025) [2026] ZAWCHC (16 April 2026)
• Trakman NO v CSARS (58927/21) [2026] ZAGPPHC (25 March 2026)
• Multipurpose Distributors v CSARS and Others (000317/2023) [2026] ZAGPPHC 90 (6 February 2026)

Summaries are available on the High Court Judgments page