Filing Season for taxpayers set to start in July

With Filing Season for the 2024 tax year set to commence in July, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that the pool of taxpayers who will be auto-assessed will increase to about 4.8 million this year compared to about 3.8 million taxpayers last year.

This as the revenue service announced 15 July 2024 as the start of the Filing Season for provisional and non-provisional taxpayers who are required to file a tax return.

Auto-assessments for an expanded pool of taxpayers will run from the 1 -14 July 2024.

“In line with the strategic objective of making it easy and simple for taxpayers to meet their legal obligations, SARS is proud to announce that the pool of taxpayers who will be auto-assessed will increase to about 4.8 million this year compared to about 3.8 million taxpayers last year.

“Taxpayers who agree with the auto-assessment do not have to do anything. If a refund is due, it will be paid within 72 hours. If tax is due to SARS, the taxpayer must make the payment by the due date,” SARS said.

If a taxpayer does not agree with the auto-assessment, they should make all applicable changes and file their return the normal way via eFiling or the SARS MobiApp on or before 21 October 2024, the closing date for non-provisional taxpayers.

“Taxpayers whose contact details, including an email address and cell phone number, as well as banking details, have changed must update these details on eFiling or the SARS MobiApp to facilitate an easy and seamless Filing Season. The update of this information goes a long way to preventing fraud and identity theft,” SARS said.

SARS Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, has assured taxpayers that SARS remains committed to its goal of making Filing Season for standard taxpayers an invisible process that requires little or no action from the taxpayer, due to the use of big data, machine learning and algorithms.

“The large number of digital platforms available to taxpayers reinforces the trend of a decreasing number of taxpayers needing to visit branches and wait in queues,” Kieswetter said.

Compliance

The Commissioner has urged taxpayers to be transparent and accurate when filing their tax returns to enable a constructive relationship with SARS.

“The use of technology and data has enhanced SARS’ ability to detect instances of non-compliance. Taxpayers must not inflate their expenses and under-declare their income to obtain impermissible refunds. Not including rental income is an example. Such actions will make the taxpayer potentially guilty of fraud.

“It is expected that in the first two weeks of July and the first two weeks of October, as many taxpayers rush to engage SARS, there may be instances where taxpayers may need to wait longer than usual to be serviced,” said the Commissioner.

The filing season for Trusts commences on 16 September 2024 – 20 January 2025.

Taxpayers who are auto-assessed but who wish to claim the solar tax rebate must complete their tax return and file it in the normal way.

Contacting SARS

More information on the solar tax rebate is available on the SARS website at sars.gov.za.

Taxpayers can also contact SARS through the SARS Online Query System. The SARS Online Query System is an easy-to-use online platform on SARS’s website (https://tools.sars.gov.za/soqs).

Taxpayers can use this service without going into a SARS branch or calling SARS. The SARS Online Query System enables taxpayers to:

• Submit a payment allocation query.
• Request your tax reference number.
• Submit supporting documents if SARS asked you to do so.
• Report a new estate case.
• Update registered representative.
• Request your tax compliance status.
• Verify your tax compliance status.
• Check if a taxpayer is due for an auto-assessment, which can only be done once the auto-assessment process starts on 1 July.

Additional information in the form of questions and answers can be found on the SARS website Tax Season | South African Revenue Service (sars.gov.za).

Taxpayers can also engage SARS through the Lwazi Chatbot or the Live Agent function on eFiling and the SARS MobiApp.

“SARS thanks compliant employers and third-party data providers who met their 2024 submission deadline. Accurate and timely information provided in this process greatly facilitates a seamless and easy transaction for employees with SARS during Filing Season.

“Those employers and third parties who are non-compliant make transacting with SARS challenging for their employees and will be pursued for transgressing the law,” the revenue service said.

Taxpayers can learn more about how to use SARS’ digital platforms, by visiting the SARS TV YouTube channel for detailed video tutorials, or by visiting the SARS website (www.sars.gov.za). –SAnews.gov.za