Tax season is open – have you filed your tax return?

THE tax assessment period is here, having kicked off on Friday, July 7. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has encouraged all South Africans to submit a tax return if they have not already been automatically assessed by SARS.

Non-provisional taxpayers are required, for example, to file a tax submission by October 23.

Doing your tax return online can be easy, but making mistakes can be easy, too.

According to experts, those mistakes can cost you time and money. To get it done, people can do it themselves or hire a specialist to assist at cost.

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To confirm if they have already registered, individuals can inquire with their employer, use the SARS Online Query function, call the SARS Contact Centre, or request a notice of registration (IT150) from SARS to obtain their tax reference number.

To submit your tax return for the first time, you will need a copy of a valid identity document, driver’s licence, passport, temporary identity document or an asylum seeker’s certificate or permit, together with the original identification (for those visiting a SARS office). And you will need a copy of proof of residential address not older than three months.

This year, the SARS Online Query System has a new feature called the Tax Return Status Dashboard, which provides taxpayers, registered representatives and tax practitioners with a visual status of the progress of Personal Income Tax returns in terms of submission, verification/audit and refund processing.

This week, we will look at how the auto-assessment works:

SARS receives data from employers, medical schemes, banks, retirement annuity funds and other institutions. This data is used to calculate your tax assessment. If SARS are satisfied that the data and tax calculation is correct, they issue the assessment to you via eFiling or the SARS MobiApp. At the same time, they also send you a message via your preferred channel of communication (like SMS or email) to let you know that your assessment on eFiling or SARS MobiApp is ready for you to view.

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Once you have received your auto-assessment, log onto eFiling or the SARS MobiApp and view your assessment. You will be able to see all the data they used to calculate your assessment. If you are in agreement with the assessment, then check if a refund is due to you or if you owe SARS. If a refund is due, then there is nothing more you have to do – you can log out of eFiling or MobiApp and wait for the refund, which you can expect within approximately seventy-two (72) hours, provided your banking details with SARS are correct. If you owe SARS, then make the payment via eFiling, the SARS MobiApp or EFT before the payment due date.

The payment due date of the amount owed to SARS is displayed on the ‘Notice of Assessment’ (ITA34). If you are not in agreement with the assessment, you can access your tax return via eFiling or SARS MobiApp, complete the return, and file it by the filing season due date (October 23, 2023). If you are not in agreement with the auto-assessment, you can complete and file your tax return from July 7 at 20:00 onwards until October 23, by visiting eFiling on www.sars.gov.za or via the SARS MobiApp. You can download MobiApp from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or the Huawei App Gallery.

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