The South African Revenue Service (SARS) confirmed in a statement on Friday that it has processed 90% of tax refunds that were reversed in the accounts of thousands of taxpayers.
The remaining 10% will be finalised by Monday, 29 July – or taxpayers will be engaged to provide supporting documents where necessary.
SARS noted that 30 000 taxpayers were affected by the reversal.
“Due to the risk associated with the validity of refund payments, all refunds go through the validation process with all stakeholders in the tax ecosystem. These validations could result in refunds being flagged for verification,” it said.
“These are the normal processes in the validations of refunds. Notwithstanding the above challenges, SARS has, in line with its earlier commitment, paid out 83% of all refunds within 72 hours,” SARS added.
SARS issued a sincere apology to all taxpayers for the inconvenience caused in the validation process.
Average SARS refund R9 333
Meanwhile, in the same statement SARS announced that it has paid out in excess of R14 billion to 1.5 million taxpayers.
That’s an average refund of R9 333 to each taxpayer.
The 2024 tax season for both individual taxpayers and provisional taxpayers opened on Monday, 15 July.
The closing date for individual taxpayers to submit their tax returns is 21 October 2024, while the deadline for provisional taxpayers is 20 January 2025.
Auto-assessments
SARS also confirmed that it paid out about R10 billion in refunds to at least 1.6 million taxpayers who were auto-assessed ahead of this year’s tax season.
The auto-assessment period ran from 1 to 15 July.
Save a trip, skip the queues
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has urged taxpayers to save a trip to one of its branches and skip having to stand in queues.
SARS’s online services could save you valuable queue time at a branch.
Here’s how:
- SARS Online Query System to access a variety of services
- SMS: SMS SARS for free at 47277 to book an appointment; check if you need to submit a Personal Income Tax return; request a balance statement or Statement of Account; and request your tax number
- USSD channel: dial*134*7277# free of charge on your cellphone to check if you have a tax number; get your account balance; or check if you need to submit a tax return
- WhatsApp: save the SARS WhatsApp number, 0800 11 7277, in your contact list. Text anything to the number e.g. “Hi” or “Hello” and SARS will respond with a service–request menu. Remember this service works only with your SARS-registered cellphone number. Through WhatsApp, you can ask for your:
- Tax Reference Number
- Statement of Account
- Return Refund Status
- Audit Status
- Notice of Assessment
Did you know that SARS has 49 branches throughout South Africa?
The vast majority are to be found in Gauteng (15), with seven options available to those residing in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
SARS BRANCHES THROUGHUT SOUTH AFRICA
Gauteng – 15
KwaZulu-Natal – 7
Western Cape – 7
Eastern Cape – 4
Free State – 4
Limpopo – 4
Mpumalanga – 3
North West – 3
Northern Cape – 2
Where you hit by a tax refund reversal?
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