Don’t Miss Out! file your tax return by October 21—Easily with SARS eFiling or MobiApp!

The deadline for individual (non-provisional) filing season submissions is 21 October 2024. Thus, we urge taxpayers who have not filed their tax returns to do so immediately. The fastest and easiest way is to use  SARS eFiling or the SARS MobiApp.  These options are accessible anytime, anywhere and are available 24/7 for your convenience.

What will occur once you have submitted?

A Notice of Assessment (ITA34) document will be issued. It is a comprehensive summary of your income, expenses and deductions, detailing the calculation of your tax liability.

Understanding your ITA34

A negative sign on your ITA34 means a refund is due to you and will be paid within 72 hours if the following details and information are in order:  

• You have updated your banking details;

• You do not have outstanding returns and or debt; and

• You have not been selected for audit.

However, if you owe SARS, the payment deadlines will be as follows:

Not automatically assessed: due within 30 days of receiving a notice of assessment.

Automatically assessed: due 30 days after the closing of the 2024 filing season.

It is your legal obligation to pay your tax liabilities on time. Alternatively, you can make payment arrangements to settle the debt.

You can make payments via the following channels:

• SARS eFiling
• EFT
• Bank

If the audit section on your IT34A is marked “Yes,” you must provide supporting documents within 21 days to verify that the details and amounts declared to SARS match with your original records.

Penalties for failing to meet the 21 October 2024 deadline

Do not wait until the last minute to file your return! SARS will enforce administrative penalties for non-compliance, such as late submission of returns and failure to disclose required information.

Non-compliance will incur a recurring monthly administrative penalty until compliance is achieved. This penalty consists of fixed amounts based on the taxpayer’s taxable income, ranging from R250 to R16 000 per month for each month that the non-compliance persists.

Deadline for the Employer Interim Reconciliation Filing Season

The Employer Interim Reconciliation period opened on 16 September 2024 and will close on 31 October 2024 for the 2025 Employer Filing Season. All employers must reconcile their Monthly Employer Declarations (EMP201). This includes Pay-As-You-Earn, the Skills Development Levy and the Unemployment Insurance Fund for the first half of the reconciliation year (from 1 March 2024 to 31 August 2024).

Submission channels

• Employers with a maximum of 50 certificates can use SARS eFiling or SARS e@syFile™.
• Employers that file EMP501s for more than 50 certificates must use the e@syFile™ Employer.

The e@syFile™ Employer application has been upgraded and the new e@syFile offers improved performance, which includes the following:

• The prioritisation of easier navigation and data capturing experience, with a new look-and-feel and arrangement functions and workflows;
• Full installations with every software update;
• The introduction of quick links to related functionalities to avoid continuous navigation through multiple menu items; and
• Enhanced user maintenance functionality to add and remove users and restrict functionality.

For the 2024 bi-annual submission, either version of e@syFile™ Employer can be used to submit the reconciliation. However, for the annual filing season, only submissions via the new version of e@syFile™ Employer will be accepted.

Make sure that you submit your accurate reconciliation by 31 October 2024 to avoid penalties and interest.

Beware of the latest impersonation scam

Scammers, who pretend to be SARS employees, are emailing unsuspecting taxpayers and businesses. These emails have attachments with links to ‘settle outstanding balances or debts’. Please note that a real SARS employee’s name and contact details are in the email signature, but the domain is different for example @saao.ac.za instead of @sars.gov.za. If in doubt, always check our Scams examples webpage.