The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says it has issued auto assessments to 5.8 million taxpayers this year, up from the 5 million milestone in 2024.
Notably, the service said that 99.6% of the assessments were unchanged, which shows the system’s success.
This also helped the taxman fast-track tax refunds to those who were assessed, paying out R10.6 billion, all processed within 72 hours of assessment.
SARS said that the auto assessments fulfil its promise to South Africans to make processing their tax affairs and complying with their tax obligations as easy as possible.
Because the system populates tax returns with third-party data that it collects from service providers, taxpayers rarely have to do anything.
It said the system integrates artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science to “just make tax happen.”
For the few taxpayers who may need to update their tax returns with changes in case of outstanding information which SARS does not have, this can be done via eFiling or the SARS Mobi App.
The successful completion of the auto assessment period, which will still run through 20 July 2025, will be followed by the tax filing period via eFiling and the SARS MobiApp for individual taxpayers from Monday, 21 July.
Provisional taxpayers can also file from 21 July 2025.
“For the majority of those who submit a return online, an assessment outcome is issued in under 5 seconds if all is in order,” SARS said.
“This world-class service is done whilst managing the risk of impermissible or fraudulent refunds with sophisticated machine learning and AI models.”
To avoid penalties, SARS urged taxpayers to submit accurate information and to make use of digital channels rather than trying to go through service centres.
“There is no need to visit SARS Service Centres. If you must, book an appointment first to avoid long queues,” it said.
The taxman also warned taxpayers who owe SARS to make payments as soon as possible, or make payment arrangements, to avoid penalties.
It reiterated that only refunds of more than R100 due to taxpayers will be automatically paid into their bank accounts within 72 hours once the assessment is completed—and those owing less than R100 will see the debt rolled over until it surpasses this.
Beware criminal elements
SARS repeated its warning that the tax season is rife with scammers and fraudsters who will be looking to take advantage of the period.
It said taxpayers should remain extremely vigilant and keep their details confidential.
“There have been many attempts by scammers to defraud taxpayers. Taxpayers are reminded that SARS will never ask taxpayers to use any link to engage with it,” it said.
“Taxpayers must protect their eFiling login details and use only registered tax practitioners.”
SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter recently warned that if someone has already fallen victim to a scam, there’s little SARS can do after the fact.
“Unfortunately, we can’t assist once taxpayers have breached their own confidentiality or allowed someone access to change their bank details,” he said.
However, he encouraged victims to report fraudulent activity to their banks, which may have phishing detection tools in place.
Scammers often impersonate SARS, law enforcement, and even banks, and try a host of tactics to try and get taxpayers to give up details.
Some of the fraudulent messages and emails that have been doing the rounds focus on these areas:
- Threats of SARS issuing court summonses against taxpayers
- Threats of SARS blacklisting taxpayers
- Threats of SARS issuing stop orders on accounts
- Notice of outstanding amounts owed to taxpayers
- Notice of outstanding amounts owed to SARS
- Notice of delayed payments pending FICA review
- Latest: Alerts of pending or active SARS audits
SARS has repeatedly warned taxpayers to be alert for suspicious activity and to report any suspected phishing attempts.
Taxpayers are urged to note the following:
- Do not open or respond to emails from unknown sources.
- Beware of emails that ask for personal, tax, banking and eFiling details (login credentials, passwords, pins, credit/debit card information, etc.).
- SARS will never request your banking details in any communication you receive via post, email, or SMS. However, for the purpose of telephonic engagement and authentication, SARS will verify your personal details.
- SARS will not send you hyperlinks to other websites—even those of banks.
- Beware of false SMSes.
- SARS does not send *.htm or *.html attachments.
- SARS will never ask for your credit card details.
Examples of these scams can be seen on SARS’ scams page. To report or to get more information on phishing, please send an email to phishing@sars.gov.za.
Article Source: BizTech
