What’s New at SARS

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.

3 September 2025 – The Mpumalanga mobile tax unit schedules for October & November 2025 are now available.

3 September 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962: Average Exchange Rates

• Table A – A list of the average exchange rates of selected currencies for a year of assessment as from December 2003
• Table B – A list of the monthly average exchange rates to assist a person whose year of assessment is shorter or longer than 12 months

3 September 2025: Superior Courts Act, 2013, Companies Act, 2008, and Tax Administration Act, 2011

• Prinsloo and Others v CSARS and Another (020214/2023) [2025] ZAGPJHC (29 August 2025)

Whether SARS is able to assess the individual companies and entities collapsed under section 20(9) of the Companies Act, 2008.

2 September 2025 – SARS is realising its vision to become a smart, modern organisation with unquestionable integrity, trusted and admired by all. It is working hard to make it easy for taxpayers to comply with their legal obligations and to create an environment of voluntary compliance. Herewith Trust Income Tax 2025 Tax Season Updates as information for Trustees and Representatives:

Key Dates for Trust Tax Matters

• 31 August 2025: first provisional tax payment for the 2026 assessment year.
• 20 September 2025: opening date for ITR12T submissions.
• 30 September 2025: deadline for IT3(t) return submissions.
• 30 September 2025: top-up provisional tax payment for the 2025 assessment year.
• 19 January 2026: final deadline for provisional and non-provisional trust tax return (ITR12T) submissions.
• 28 February 2026: second provisional tax payment for the 2026 assessment year.

The appointed representative taxpayer (trustee or tax practitioner) must submit the ITR12T annually within the prescribed trust return filing period through SARS eFiling.

Below is an overview of important updates for the 2025 Trust Income Tax Season. 

Legislative Changes

Definition of a Trust

The definition of a trust has been updated to include the underlined words below:

“trust” means any trust fund consisting of cash or other assets which are administered and controlled by a person acting in a fiduciary capacity, where such person is appointed under a deed of trust or by agreement or under the will of a deceased person, and includes a portfolio of a collective investment scheme and a portfolio of a hedge fund collective investment scheme.

Please note that this amendment does not affect the ITR12T.

Section 6quat

With effect from 1 March 2025, section 6quat of the Income Tax Act (the ITA) has been amended for taxpayers to fully use foreign tax credits for the taxes paid on capital gains in the foreign jurisdiction, to the same extent as taxes paid in South Africa on the same gains.

From the 2025 tax year, SARS will maintain any unused foreign tax credits to be carried forward automatically in the subsequent years of assessment, up to six years. In addition, section 6quat(1A) (a)(iii) clarifies the rebate for foreign taxes on income in respect of capital gains. To prevent double taxation on capital gains of residents due to the disposal of assets situated outside South Africa, section 6quat (1A)(a)(iii) of the Act provides for residents to claim a credit against South African tax for irrecoverable foreign taxes paid on these foreign-sourced capital gains.

Section 12H Learnership Agreement

The section 12H (of the ITA) Learnership Agreement termination date has been extended from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2027.

Section 25B

Section 25B was amended to align it to paragraph 80 of the Eighth Schedule to the ITA by limiting the “flow-through” principle only to resident beneficiaries. This means that all amounts vested to non-resident beneficiaries are subject to tax in the hands of the trust.

Note: this amendment will also affect the submission requirements for provisional tax (IRP6).

Form Changes

ITR12T Farming and Partnership Farming Auto-Calculator

• Income and Expense Declaration: taxpayers can declare income and expenses from farming operations, with each field previously requiring manual input, including opening balances.
• Under-Declaration Challenge: SARS was previously unable to proactively identify potential under-declarations because information was captured manually.
• Auto-Calculation Amendment: the form now allows for automatic calculation of amounts, which will be stored for pre-population in future returns.
• Pre-Population Feature: the system will extract previous IT48 and IT48V assessed information (balances) and prepopulate this information in the current year return.
• Enhanced Reporting: improved tax reporting for trusts relating to local farming operations and local farming partnerships.

Wizard Question on ITA Section 25B(4)-(6) — Limitation of Losses

A new question is introduced in the wizard to ascertain if any amounts vested are subject to section 25B(4)-(6). This information will help SARS design future iterations of the return that may provide for these scenarios.

Flow-through of Capital Losses

The flow-through of capital losses is not permitted under paragraph 80 of the Eighth Schedule to the ITA. However, in a trust environment, there may be cases where this rule may not apply, e.g. in the case of a bewind or vesting trust. The ITR12T is amended to provide for such scenarios. Subsequently, a new wizard question is introduced for the trustees to declare if the trust is a bewind or vesting trust.

Type (b) Special Trusts (Only when a Trust Is Classified as Such)

A new question is introduced in the wizard that requires confirmation from the trustees that the youngest beneficiary has not yet reached the age of 18 on the last day of the year of assessment. Based on the answer to the wizard question, the trustee will either be redirected or allowed to continue with the completion of the form.

Beneficial Ownership

• Deceased founders: the form is amended to provide for scenarios where the founder is deceased. A tick-box is included for this purpose.
• Unnamed beneficial owners: the form is amended to provide for scenarios where the beneficial owners — usually beneficiaries — are unnamed or a class of beneficiaries. A free text box is included to provide for the details of these unnamed beneficiaries.

Further Information

• After submitting the ITR12T, you will receive a survey about your experience. Please complete the survey to help improve the submission process.
• An updated version of The Comprehensive Guide to the Income Tax Return for Trusts will be available on the SARS website from 20 September 2025.
• Register, submit, and pay the assessed amounts on time as required by legislation.