Tax Season 2025: Here is everything you should know
Pretoria residents can file their 2025 tax returns from July 7 until the October 20 deadline, with SARS auto-assessing simpler cases and notifying qualifying taxpayers by SMS or email.
To make the most of local SARS support—whether you're auto-assessed or filing manually—ensure your documents, banking details and eFiling security contacts are up to date before you begin.
According to SARS, taxpayers who are automatically assessed will begin to receive notifications in July.
'Taxpayers who do not receive notifications from SARS that they are automatically assessed, are encouraged to submit their tax returns in a timely and accurate manner from July 21 2025.
'The Filing Season will close on October 20 2025 for non-provisional individuals,' the revenue collector said in a statement on Monday.
It urged taxpayers to start preparing documentation in advance and check their assessments to 'avoid last-minute delays for those that must submit an income return'.
'SARS requires taxpayers to ensure that their banking details are correct and updated. This ensures efficient processing of any refund that may be due.
'If you need to change your bank details, you must first check that your security contact details (email and cell phone number) on the SARS eFiling are up to date. There is no need to do anything if your banking details and security contact details have not changed,' SARS said.
It furthermore said it had identified a portion of provisional and non-provisional taxpayers for auto-assessment.
The move is targeted at taxpayers who have one or more sources of income from formal and other forms of employment and 'whose tax affairs are not complicated'.
The steps in the auto assessment process are as follows:
• From July 7, SARS will communicate directly with affected taxpayers by SMS and/or email, notifying taxpayers of their auto-assessed tax returns.
• If there is a refund due to the taxpayer, it will be paid directly to the taxpayer's bank account within 72 business hours after the notification. If there is money owing to SARS, it must be paid to SARS' Bank Account, eFiling or through the SARS MobiApp by the stipulated date.
• Taxpayers can access their auto assessed income tax returns through any of SARS's channels, such as the SARS MobiApp or SARS eFiling, to review and verify the completeness and accuracy of the information that resulted in the auto assessment.
• If a taxpayer is satisfied with the auto assessment, they don't have to do anything further and the process terminates at this point.
• If the taxpayer finds that there is missing and/or inaccurate information, pertaining to either income or expenses, which may have affected the outcome, it must be declared to SARS by submitting a tax return to SARS.
'The process of automatic assessment is made possible by the availability of third-party data received from employers, pension fund administrators, medical aid schemes and more. This enables SARS to complete the tax declaration on behalf of this segment of taxpayers and issue them with an Auto Assessment.'
SARS added that the taxpayers in the auto assessment category do not have to do anything if they are satisfied with the calculation on their tax returns.
'If the taxpayer is of the opinion that SARS has not captured all the necessary information, they are free to make changes to their tax returns and submit the missing information through eFiling by October 20, 2025.
'Where the taxpayer has a refund, they will receive it in 72 hours if all their information is correct. If the taxpayer owes the revenue collector, they must pay through their respective banks,' SARS said.
Also read: Is there an outbreak of Staphylococcus in Pretoria?
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