As the filing season for individuals is underway, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, has encouraged taxpayers to use SARS’s digital channels to engage with the organisation.
“Taxpayers do not have to expose themselves to the elements in this cold weather and stand in queues. They can conduct their tax affairs in the comfort of their homes rather than pay taxi fares,” Kieswetter said on Monday.
The Commissioner made these comments during his visit to the SARS’s Alberton Taxpayer Service Centre, where he reviewed the state of readiness as Auto Assessment begins, running from 7 to 20 July 2025.
During his visit, he was accompanied by Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, who expressed his satisfaction at SARS’s state of readiness to deliver a successful and easy Filing Season for taxpayers.
The Minister and the Commissioner interacted with taxpayers, most of whom had visited the offices to update and verify their registered details, including changing emails, banking information, and cellphone numbers.
Some of the taxpayers had visited the branch to settle matters related to their outstanding tax debt and returns.
SARS stressed that there is no need to visit a SARS branch but if taxpayers must, they should first book an appointment to avoid long queues.
SARS has started to issue Auto Assessments to taxpayers whose tax affairs are less complicated. If taxpayers agree with their Auto Assessment, no further action is required from them.
“Acceptance is automatic, so taxpayers need not manually accept the Auto Assessment. Taxpayers are advised to wait for the SMS/email notice before logging in to eFiling or the SARS MobiApp.
“Refunds less than R100 due to taxpayers will automatically be paid into their bank accounts within 72 hours once the assessment is completed,” SARS said.
Filing Season 2025 opened for non-provisional and some provisional taxpayers who were not auto-assessed.
The filing period for non-provisional taxpayers is from 21 July to 20 October 2025. Provisional taxpayers’ filing window will close on 19 January 2026.
The following dates should be diarised for this year’s Filing Season:
• Issuing of Auto Assessment notices: 7 – 20 July 2025.
• Individual taxpayers (non-provisional): 21 July – 20 October 2025.
• Provisional taxpayers: 21 July 2025 – 19 January 2026.
“Taxpayers are urged to be extremely careful and keep their details confidential. In the run-up to Filing Season, there will be many attempts from scammers to defraud taxpayers.
“Scammers can present themselves as SARS officials to steal taxpayers’ personal details, make them click on links, or pay money into an account. SARS will never ask taxpayers to use any link. Taxpayers must protect their eFiling login details and use only registered tax practitioners,” SARS said.
Information on the latest scams can be found on the SARS website: www.sars.gov.za.
To report or request information on phishing, taxpayers can send an email to [email protected]. To avoid penalties, taxpayers must submit accurate information promptly.
For a smooth and easy Filing Season 2025, taxpayers are urged to use the following communication channels with SARS:
• SARS Website: visit www.sars.gov.za and click on the “Individuals” tab.
• SARS Online Query System (SOQS): https://tools.sars.gov.za/soqs.
• SARS WhatsApp: send “Hi” or “Hello” to 0800 117 277.
• AI Virtual Assistant: available 24/7 on the SARS website to answer queries.
• Dial *134*7277#: to access SARS services.
• SARS YouTube: visit @sarstax for how-to videos.
– SAnews.gov.za
