What you need to know about SARS Auto Assessments
What is an auto-assessment?
This is an automatic assessment issued by SARS to certain taxpayers. SARS will use information from various sources to automatically generate assessments without needing input from the taxpayer. SARS requires third party data to be submitted before tax season opens. Third party data includes data from fund administrators like retirement annuity fund certificates, medical schemes tax certificates
How will I know if I have been auto assessed?
SARS will send you a SMS or email to inform you that you have been selected for auto-assessment. SARS have indicated that they will send these notifications from 1 July to 14 July 2024.
Is the deadline for auto-assessments the same as the tax season?
The deadline for filing taxes in 2024 is October 21st for both salaried employees and auto-assessed taxpayers. All non-provisional taxpayers will have the same submission deadline of 21 October 2024.
Should I accept the auto assessment?
No, we believe there are potential hazards and risks. Your automatic assessment might be inaccurate, and if you accept it, you might end up paying more tax than required.
The question then is why your auto assessment might not be correct:
- SARS may not have received all of your tax certificates from third party data
- SARS may not have your most up-to-date tax certificates as there might have been changes throughout the year
- You could miss out on claiming additional deductions which won’t appear on your auto-assessment for example wear and tear, home office, donations to charities and public benefit organizations, travel expenses and medical expenses you paid personally out of your pocket.
SARS have already refunded me the auto-assessed amount - how does this work now?
If you have extra income or deductions to include, you can still file your tax return as normal with Zeelie Professional Accountants SA when tax season opens on 15 July. Filing taxes lets you list deductions to lower taxes and increase chances of a refund.
Upon submitting your tax return, SARS will provide you with an assessment (ITA34) that displays your updated tax refund/liability sum. If you included deductions (e.g home office) in your tax return, you should have less tax to pay, which means that SARS will pay you an additional refund for the difference between the auto-assessment and the assessment per your tax return. If however, you included extra income (e.g rental) in your tax return, you will need to make a tax payment to SARS.
If I accept SARS' auto assessment, and my auto-assessment is incorrect, am I exempt from penalties/legal action?
No, you are not exempt from penalties or legal action. Your responsibility is to ensure you report all of your income and expenses accurately to SARS. If you don't report all your income on your tax return, SARS may charge you a penalty. The penalty could be up to 200% of the tax owed, in addition to interest, should SARS audit you later on and discover their mistake.
Frequently asked questions
Does SARS auto assess Provisional Taxpayers?
The answer here is no. The reason for this is that non-provisional taxpayer data should already be on SARS' database. Whereas provisional taxpayers still have to compile their income tax returns.
What if I am not happy with the assessment or penalty imposed by SARS?
You can contact your tax practitioner for assistance, or you can Visit your nearest SARS Branch. Remember to make an appointment first. Please note that the SARS Complaints Management Office (CMO) contact number has changed to a toll-free number. The new CMO number is 0800 12 12 16 and not 0860 12 12 16 anymore.
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