Sars deadline looming for provisional taxpayers

Tax season is almost over, as the deadline for provisional taxpayers draws closer.

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has reminded provisional taxpayers to file their income tax returns no later than Wednesday, 24 January 2024.

Provisional taxpayers are persons who have other sources of income, apart from their salary.

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Extra income

It’s important to note that earning extra income does not necessarily make one a provisional taxpayer. Your income must meet Sars requirements for provisional tax for you to be considered a provisional taxpayer.

Trusts also fall under this group of taxpayers, and are thus regarded as persons in terms of the Tax Act.

Sars requires all trusts to file their income tax returns annually, even if they are not economically active.

“As of the 2023 year of assessment, trustees are required to submit mandatory supporting documents during the filing process,” Sars said in statement.

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eFiling

In attempts to simplify the tax returns process, Sars has improved its online filing solutions.

Provisional taxpayers can conveniently obtain their personal income tax return (ITR12) and Trust income tax return (ITR12T) forms on the eFiling site.

Once registered on Sars e-Filing, taxpayers must activate their provisional tax status. Thereafter, they will be able to access their provisional tax forms.

Provisional taxpayers will be required to estimate their taxable income for the full tax year before submitting their tax returns.

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Non-provisional taxpayers

Meanwhile, Sars received a total of seven million non-provisional income tax returns for the tax reason ended 23 October 2023.

The figure was a million higher compared to 2022.

Sars attributed some of the improvements to its online platform, which fast-tracked the returns process.

• 88% of returns were made through eFiling, MobiApp platforms;
• 93% of returns were processed in 5 seconds;
• 79% of refunds were processed in 72 hours;
• More than R29 billion has already been paid in refunds.

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