NATIONAL NEWS - As the 2025 filing season gets underway in the new week, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that 5.8 million taxpayers received Auto Assessments, which is up from last year’s five million.
“Importantly, 99.6% of Auto Assessments issued to date have remained unchanged by taxpayers. Equally impressive is that R10.6 billion in refunds due to taxpayers have already been paid within 72 hours,” SARS said.
The successful completion of the Auto Assessment period ran from 7 to 20 July 2025.
It will be followed by the tax filing period via eFiling and the SARS MobiApp for individual taxpayers from Monday, 21 July–20 October 2025. Provisional taxpayers can also file from 21 July 2025–19 January 2026.
With Auto Assessment, SARS uses data sourced from third-party data providers to assess taxpayers.
This is in keeping with the revenue service’s aspiration to “make tax just happen," which enables taxpayers to not to do anything when they are issued an auto assessment.
For the few taxpayers that 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.
SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter expressed his satisfaction with the Auto Assessment as it has been a game changer in making tax easy for taxpayers to comply.
“SARS is working hard to give taxpayers the best service. Ultimately, our aim is to make the best service to be no service at all. As we start with Filing Season for those not auto assessed, from Monday, 21 July, I encourage taxpayers rather to use our digital channels than come queue at our Service Centres.”
He noted that the improvement of SARS’s digital platforms is saving taxpayers’ time and eliminating the need to travel to SARS Service Centres.
“For the majority of those who submit a return online, an assessment outcome is issued in under five seconds if all is in order. This world class service is done whilst managing the risk of impermissible or fraudulent refunds with sophisticated machine learning and AI [artificial intelligence] models.
“To avoid penalties, taxpayers must submit accurate information promptly. Taxpayers are using SARS’s digital channels successfully. There is no need to visit SARS Service Centres. If you must, book an appointment first to avoid long queues.
“Taxpayers who owe SARS are urged to make payments as soon as possible or make payment arrangements. Only refunds more than R100 due to taxpayers will be automatically paid into their bank accounts within 72 hours once the assessment is completed,” the revenue service said.
Call for vigilance
SARS urged taxpayers to 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. 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 phishing@sars.gov.za.
For smooth 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
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