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The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has noted an increase in the number of taxpayers who filed for their annual Income Tax Returns for the 2024 tax year.
The filing season started on 1 July 2024 for auto-assessment notices and on 15 July 2024 for provisional, trust, and non-provisional taxpayers and ended on 20 January 2025.
Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter expressed his gratitude to all taxpayers who have taken steps to fulfil their legal obligations.
“While Sars is pleased with the general increase in compliance, it is too early to declare victory. In this regard, Sars will continue to employ the latest technology, artificial intelligence, and data science to foster voluntary compliance by ensuring that transacting with the organisation is an effortless and seamless experience that will lessen the compliance burden.”
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543 252 provisional taxpayers filed their annual Income Tax Returns for the 2024 tax year, which is a 4.76% increase from the 517 356 in the 2023 tax year.
The taxman added that there are also taxpayers who filed for their outstanding returns from prior tax years.
“In total, 162 690 provisional taxpayers filed returns for the previous years, down from 242 911 in the 2023 tax year. The ultimate total is 705 942 provisional taxpayers filed their returns.”
Regarding Trusts, Sars said it received returns from 84 134 taxpayers for the 2024 tax year, up from 68 890 for the previous tax year.
“Moreover, there were 80 132 Trusts returned from earlier years, resulting in an overall total of 164 266 Trusts.
“The number of non-provisional taxpayers who filed their Income Tax Returns and those automatically assessed stands at 6 797 055.
“4 765 753 were auto-evaluated for the 2024 tax year, which is 24.94% up from 3 577 239 from the previous year. As reported before, these taxpayers did not have to do anything, and Sars used vast data sources to auto-assess them and provide an outcome for them.”
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Sars added that the increase in taxpayers filing returns is encouraging. However, there is still a long way to go to ensure acceptable compliance levels for these taxpayers.
“There is a noticeable increase in the filing of returns by non-provisional taxpayers. This comprises the use of automatic assessment for non-provisional taxpayers, as well as those who independently file their returns.
“This reflects a general increase in compliance in this category. However, undoubtedly, there is still a long way to declare that every individual who is supposed to file their return is dutifully fulfilling their legal obligation.
“Increasingly, Sars will focus on encouraging voluntary compliance in these categories of taxpayers.”
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Sars said it is working to make it easy and simple for taxpayers to transact with the organisation through online platforms such as eFiling.
It is also working on making it difficult and costly for individuals to ignore tax law deliberately.
“All taxpayers, including Trusts and even economically inactive ones, must register for tax, file returns, and pay on time. Non-compliance with tax law is a criminal offence and will attract penalties and interest.
“Representative taxpayers of Trusts should remember that they are legally liable in their official and personal capacity to meet their Trusts’ tax obligations, even when using a tax practitioner to administer their tax affairs.
“Sars will hold all the trustees of a Trust jointly and individually liable for their Trusts’ tax compliance.”
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