The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced the official start of the 2025 tax filing season, effective from 7 July 2025. Filing season for non-provisional taxpayers will close on 20 October 2025, whereas provisional taxpayers have until 19 January 2026 to file their return.

If you have been automatically assessed, you will receive notification of this from SARS between 7 and 20 July 2025. If you are not automatically assessed, you can submit your tax return from 21 July 2025.

Whether you have been auto-assessed or have to file a return, it’s a good idea to prepare your documentation early – either to check that the auto-assessment is correct, or to get your return in early.

If you have changed your banking details since you last filed a return, make sure you update these details on eFiling, allowing enough time for any kinks in the process to get ironed out. This ensures efficient processing of any refund that may be due to you.

Auto assessments

As in previous years, SARS has identified a large segment of taxpayers (both non-provisional and provisional) whose tax affairs are not overly complicated, and has selected them to be automatically assessed.

The process of automatic assessment is made possible by the availability of third- party data received from employers, pension fund administrators, medical aid schemes, financial institutions, and more. This enables SARS to complete the tax declaration on behalf of this segment of taxpayers and issue them with an auto assessment.

If you have received an auto assessment and are satisfied with the calculation on your tax return, then you don’t have to do anything further. If you think that SARS has not captured all the necessary information, you are free to make changes on your return and submit an amended return through eFiling.

The auto-assessment process works as follows:

1. From July 7th, SARS will communicate directly with affected taxpayers by SMS and/or email, notifying them of their auto-assessed tax returns.
2. 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’ (via EFT, through eFiling, or through the SARS MobiApp) by the stipulated date.
3. 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.
4. If a taxpayer is satisfied with the auto assessment, they don’t have to do anything further and the process terminates at this point.
5. 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.

If your tax affairs are deemed too complex for an auto assessment, you will be able to file your tax return from July 21st to October 20th 2025 if you are a non-provisional taxpayer, or up until 19 January 2026 if you are a provisional taxpayer.

Getting support from SARS

SARS has enhanced their support services this year, including:

• More information on SARS’s interactive channels
• Extended customer service hours
• Updated online filing platforms for easier submission
• Comprehensive guidance and resources available on the SARS website and SARS Youtube channel
• Increased security measures to protect sensitive information

Taxpayers are encouraged not to visit to SARS branches, but to rather use the various digital channels – namely eFiling and the SARS mobi app – to transact with SARS. if you have no choice but to visit a branch, make sure that you book an appointment.

Start getting your paperwork in order now to ensure a smooth tax filing experience. Remember that you will incur penalties for late submission.

This post was based on a press release issued on behalf of SARS.