What’s New at SARS

21 February 2025 – Tax Court Judgments

• SARSTC IT 76795 (IT) [2025] ZATC CPT (13 January 2025)
• SARSTC IT 46080 (IT) [2024] ZATC CPT (5 December 2024)
• SARSTC IT 46098 (IT) 2024 ZATC JHB (4 December 2024)
• SARSTC IT 45903 (IT) [2024] ZATC JHB (14 March 2024)

Summaries are available on the Tax Court Judgments page

21 February 2025 – In this issue, we provide information about steps taken by SARS to keep your information safe through biometrics, the release of a new version of e@syFile, preparation for the upcoming Employer filing season and the criteria for taking out a selfie when submitting supporting documents to SARS.

21 February 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962: The income tax notices, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relate to –

• determination of the daily amount in respect of meals and incidental costs for purposes of section 8(1)(c)(ii) (overnight allowance);
• determination of the daily amount in respect of meals and incidental costs for purposes of section 8(1)(a)(ii) (daily allowance); and
• fixing the rate per kilometre in respect of motor vehicles – section 8(1)(b)(ii) and (iii).

Publication details will follow in due course

21 February 2025 – In this issue, we provide information about steps taken by SARS to keep your information safe through biometrics, the release of a new version of e@syFile, preparation for the upcoming Employer filing season and submission of the February provisional tax payments. We also cover upcoming developments relating to the digital submission of suspension of payment arrangements for Trusts and the criteria for taking out a selfie when submitting supporting documents to SARS.

21 February 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendments notices R.5878 and R5879, as published in Government Gazette 52150, and tariff amendments notice R.5898, as published in Government Gazette 52153, both of 14 February 2025, are now available.

21 February 2025 – The Donations Tax Guide has been updated to align with the legal technical requirements and processes.

• GEN-DNT-01-G01 – Manage Donations Tax – External Guide

20 February 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: The tariff amendments notices, scheduled for publication in the Government Gazette, relate to the amendments to –

• Schedule No. 1, by the substitution of paragraph 1 of General Note O to include Morocco, Burundi and Uganda as part of the State Parties in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement;
• Schedule 1 by the substitution of Appendix IV to Annex 2 on Rules of Origin in the General Notes to facilitate ease of preferential trade among the implementing countries under the AfCFTA Agreement; and
• Part 1 of Schedule No. 2, by the insertion of item 204.05/2102.10/01.06 in order to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of active yeast imported from or originating from the Republic of Zimbabwe (ITAC Report 741).

Publication details will be made available later

20 February 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, 21 February 2025 from 18h00 to 22h00,

Saturday, 22 February 2025 from 18h00 to 00h00

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

Responses (CUSRES messages) to transactions submitted during this time will be delayed, however, arrival and exit management functions are available at land border posts for all released declarations and manifests.

Stakeholders are therefore urged to submit all Goods Declarations (bills of entry) and Road Manifest, especially those deemed priority, by Friday, 21 February 2025 @ 17h00.

20 February 2025 – Value-Added Tax Act, 1991

• VAT Reference Guide – Foreign Donor Funded Projects (Issue 3)

19 February 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, 21 February 2025 from 18h00 to 22h00.

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

Responses (CUSRES messages) to transactions submitted during this time will be delayed, however, arrival and exit management functions are available at land border posts for all released declarations and manifests.

Stakeholders are therefore urged to submit all Goods Declarations (bills of entry) and Road Manifest, especially those deemed priority, by Friday, 21 February 2025 @ 17h00.

18 February 2025 – SARS is modernising the Trust suspension of payment (SOP) process from manual to digital on eFiling, making it easier and more efficient for Trusts and their representatives to manage their tax obligations. This change aligns with our commitment to provide modern, digital services that simplify compliance. Taxpayers and tax practitioners are able to submit requests for SOP on Section 95(1)(c) and disputed Trust debt, from 17 February 2025 onwards.

For more information see the Guide to submit a dispute via eFiling.

17 February 2025 – SARS is introducing the option to submit Reportable Arrangements via eFiling, following requests for enhanced security and efficiency. Previously submitted manually via email, these submissions can now be made under the Services section, Additional Services on eFiling.

The submission process remains unchanged, with the RA01 form and supporting documentation still required. Both eFiling and email submissions will run parallel until 31 May 2025, after which email submissions will no longer be accepted.

This move is part of SARS’ ongoing efforts to modernise systems and improve compliance processes, providing taxpayers with a more secure and streamlined way to meet their obligations.

For more information, see the updated Guide to complete the Company Income Tax return (ITR14) on eFiling.

17 February 2025 – As a small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME), your contributions are integral to the nation’s economic growth and stability. SARS wants to make it easier for you to fulfil your tax obligations.  In this edition we aim to provide clear and certain information to help you remain tax compliant.

17 February 2025 – SARS has launched e@syFile™ Employer – version 8.0. The platform has been redesigned to enhance your filing experience. Version 8.0 will replace all previous versions of the software, effective 1 March 2025. Please download version 8.0 timeously to familiarise yourself with the new features. See the enhancements, system requirements and more detail here.

17 February 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.

14 February 2025 – The Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Mr Edward Kieswetter welcomed the judgement delivered on 12 February 2025 in the matter between Greyvensteyn v Commissioner for SARS and Others.

This judgement was preceded by a provisional preservation order in chambers against Andries Greyvensteyn (“Greyvensteyn”) and The Gold Kid (Pty) Ltd (Gold Kid) under section 163 of the Tax Administration Act, 28 of 2011 (TA Act) on 28 February 2023. The order authorised a repatriation of foreign assets and limiting a taxpayer right to travel outside the Republic in terms of section 186 and 186(3). It also allowed for the preservation of Greyvensteyn’s and Gold Kid’s assets as well as the compulsory repatriation of Mr Greyvensteyn’s foreign assets. 

The Applicant, Andries Greyvensteyn (“Greyvensteyn”), challenged the constitutionality of sections 180, 184(2), and 186(3) of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011. Section 180 holds a person personally liable for a taxpayer’s tax debt if their negligence or fraud resulted in the failure to pay the tax debt. Section 184(2) requires SARS to provide an opportunity for representations before holding a person liable for a taxpayer’s tax debt. Section 186(3) allows a court to order the repatriation of a taxpayer’s foreign assets and limit their ability to travel or conduct business.

Greyvensteyn argued that these provisions violated his constitutional rights, specifically section 34 (right to access to court) and sections 21 and 22 (rights to freedom of movement and to choose a trade, occupation, or profession freely). He contended that SARS’ actions amounted to self-help, undermining his right to a fair public hearing.

The court found that SARS’ actions under sections 180 and 184(2) constituted administrative action, which is reviewable under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA). The court emphasised that Greyvensteyn has the right to judicial review of SARS’ decisions, ensuring access to court. The court also found that the limitations imposed by section 186(3) on Greyvensteyn’s rights were reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society, given the importance of tax collection for public interest. The court upheld the constitutionality of sections 180, 184(2), and 186(3). The application was dismissed with costs, including the costs of four counsel on scale C.

SARS’ powers and duties of recovery of taxes are not absolute and this judgement confirms that though SARS may not carry out its powers and duties in a way that violates constitutional rights, the court confirmed that the current provisions do not infringe taxpayers’ constitutional rights.

Commissioner Kieswetter said that “this precedent setting decision reaffirms SARS’ legal authority to discharge its work of collecting all revenue due to the state in an efficient and effective manner. Importantly, was the court’s reiteration that the provisions that allow SARS to determine third-party liability, repatriation of foreign assets and restrictions of travel are lawful and constitutional. SARS will continue to provide certainty and clarity to taxpayers while making it easy and simple to transact with the organisation. However, SARS will vehemently oppose any action by the taxpayer intended to undermine its mandate”.

For further information please contact SARS at [email protected]

14 February 2025 – There is currently no requirement to validate the Payment Reference Number (PRN) when a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file is submitted. A new rule has been added to address invalid PRNs that are submitted for Admin Penalties via the Bulk and Additional Payments on eFiling. This rule aims to prevent transactions from being posted to the SAP Clarification account.

To prevent taxpayers from submitting files where the PRNs is filled with zeros (000…) or nines (999…) for Admin Penalties, the following validation rule has been introduced:

• • When a taxpayer selects the Tax Type “ITPEN” (Payments towards Third Party Appointments for Admin penalties, such as AA88 notices issued by employers), the 12th character of the PRN must always be a “I”.
  • The characters between positions 13 and 19 must be numeric and cannot consist entirely of zeros or nines. The 19-digit modules must apply.
  • If any of the above conditions are not met, as per the specifications, then the file must be rejected.

For more information see the updated Guide to Bulk and Additional Payments on eFiling.

14 February 2025 – Income Tax Act, 1962

Multilateral Instrument (MLI) synthesised texts:

• Belgium
• China (People’s Republic of)
• Egypt
• Russia
• Spain
• United Kingdom

14 February 2025 – The latest Monthly Tax Digest newsletter for February 2025 is now available.

14 February 2025 – Customs and Excise Act, 1964: Publication details for tariff amendments notice R.5854, as published in Government Gazette 52084 of 14 February 2025, are now available.