Auto-assessed by SARS: Don’t accept without review

SOUTH Africans who have been auto-assessed by SARS are being warned to double-check their tax returns, as relying solely on the pre-populated figures could lead to costly mistakes, penalties, or missed refunds.

- MTHOBISI NOZULELA

Earlier this year, the revenue service confirmed that it had issued auto-assessments to 5.8 million taxpayers, paying out R10.6 billion in refunds, with most being processed within 72 hours.

SARS also confirmed that 99.6% of auto assessments issued were accepted without changes. In an interview with Moneyweb Radio, TaxTim co-founder Daniel Swiegers said many taxpayers may not realise that SARS doesn’t always have complete information.