SARS announces eFiling change for tax season 2025

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is introducing a new feature called 'Express Access' to its eFiling systems for tax season 2025, which should make it much easier for taxpayers to process their auto assessments.

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According to the service, income taxpayers should see a new 'Express' tab on their eFiling landing page that will make their Personal Income Tax returns more easily accessible.

The new functionality will let taxpayers quickly view their 2025 auto assessment, submit previous years' returns, submit the current year's returns and update personal banking details.

SARS said that the update aligns with its strategic objectives to provide modernised and streamlined services and provide clarity and certainty of tax obligations for taxpayers.

It is also part of the taxman's wider simplification processes, which drive taxpayer compliance and ensure that its other automated processes go through faster and smoother.

The focus on giving taxpayers quick access to their auto assessments is key, as the service expects to process a record number of these tax assessments in 2025.

Auto assessments will start rolling out two weeks ahead of the opening of filing season, starting 7 July, where taxpayers with simpler tax affairs can resolve their returns quickly.

Auto-assessed taxpayers will find their tax returns already populated with third-party data sourced by SARS, with no need to manually submit a return.