Author: Dave Beattie
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has extended the deadline to correct automatic assessments for the 2026 filing season.
In terms of section 95(6) of the Tax Administration Act, SARS extended the deadline for taxpayers who receive automatic assessments. The deadline to make corrections will now be the 23rd of October 2026, with SARS issuing auto-assessments to qualifying taxpayers between the 1st and 12th of July.
The extension is important as it gives taxpayers more time to review the information received by SARS from third parties in order to issue the auto-assessment. Taxpayers should not assume that the assessment is automatically correct just because it is issued by SARS. Taxpayers still bear the ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of their tax submissions and could be penalised if they do not make full disclosure.
The auto-assessment process is aimed at simplifying the tax reporting obligations of salaried taxpayers with relatively straightforward tax affairs. The information received by SARS should be complete and accurate, meaning that no further action is required. The taxpayer has a responsibility to carefully check the assessment to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information, so that the final assessment raised reflects the taxpayer’s true position for that tax period.
Taxpayers with income that would not be reported to SARS by third parties and those that have additional tax deductions to make would not be able to rely on an auto-assessment.
In recent years, SARS has invested heavily in technology, data analytics, and third-party reporting systems. SARS is receiving massive amounts of data from not only local but also international sources. While auto-assessments will only reflect information received from employers, financial institutions, investment funds, and medical aids, taxpayers must not think that SARS is unaware of their worldwide earnings. South African tax residents are required to declare their worldwide earnings. Not doing so would be like playing Russian Roulette as there is a high probability of SARS having information pertaining to some or all of one’s offshore assets and income. The penalties for non-compliance should be enough to convince taxpayers to do the right thing.
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