South Africa’s 2025 tax season has officially begun, with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) launching its auto-assessment process on Monday, 8 July.
The auto-assessments will be rolled out in batches over the next two weeks, from 7 to 20 July. Thereafter, from 21 July, the window will open for manual filing of tax returns by individual taxpayers—both provisional and non-provisional—as well as for trusts.
SARS Operations Manager for Taxbase Broadening and Education, Nwabisa Bidla, has urged taxpayers to ensure that all personal details and supporting documents are up to date and accurate in order to avoid delays or discrepancies.
“We are encouraging taxpayers to wait for official communication confirming whether they have been auto assessed. Once notified, they can log onto their eFiling profiles to review their assessments,” said Bidla.
She explained that SARS relies on third-party data—such as information from employers, banks, medical aid schemes, and retirement fund providers—to complete tax returns during the auto-assessment process.
Listen to the full interview with Nwabisa Bidla below:
Addressing concerns about banking details, Tshepo Thebyane, Senior Tax Consultant at Tax Consulting SA, noted that SARS requires time to verify newly submitted banking information, typically up to 21 working days.
“The key is to consistently check for notices from SARS and make sure all contact details are updated. That way, if SARS needs further documentation or clarification, taxpayers can respond immediately and avoid delays,” said Thebyane.
Listen to the full interview with Tshepo Thebyane below:
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