The South African Revenue Service has reinvented its services in an effort to provide efficient and effective services while improving compliance levels.
The global pandemic has forced the organisation to re-look at new ways to provide its services and protect its employees.
One such innovation introduced under the lockdown was that taxpayers who register for eFiling would obtain a taxpayer number.
Sars also introduced one seamless filing season, which started on April 15 and will run until August 2020.
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This was done to ensure employers are compliant and third party information is submitted, ahead of individual taxpayers submitting their returns.
The first phase of Filing Season 2020 was allocated to employers and other third-party data providers including medical schemes, retirement annuity funds and banks.
During this phase, third-party data providers filed their data to Sars before May 31.
The next phase has now commenced, during which Sars validates the third-party data.
The third phase of Filing Season 2020 opens on August 1.
On the day, a large number of taxpayers can expect to receive an SMS that Sars has prepared their tax returns for them, and that a draft assessment is available on eFiling or Mobiapp for their consideration.
For those that accept the draft assessment, there will be no need to complete and file a tax return, and if a refund is due, the refund will follow within the first week of August.
This is known as the auto-assessment process.
A taxpayer will be eligible for the auto-assessment only if all third-party data providers have filed all third-party data for the taxpayer.
Taxpayers who, for example, have not yet received their IPR5 certificates are advised to immediately approach their employers and insist that the IPR5’s are issued to them.
During August, taxpayers who have not been auto-assessed, but who have a complete set of third-party data will be invited by Sars to file early.
The fourth phase of filing Season 2020 starts on September 1.
Taxpayers who have not been auto-assessed, or who have not accepted an auto-assessment, can then start to file via eFiling or the MobiApp.
Taxpayers who cannot file through any of our digital platforms will be permitted to visit a Sars branch by appointment only.
“During the time when our country is still battling the scourge of Covid-19, we hope taxpayers will take advantage of these innovations aimed at making it easier and faster for taxpayers to comply with their tax obligations,” said Sars commissioner, Edward Kieswetter.
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-It is a criminal offence to deduct employees’ tax (PAYE) from employees, but not pay it over to Sars.
-It is a criminal offence to not submit a return to Sars when required to do so.
