The South African Revenue Service has advised individual taxpayers in the country to submit their tax returns latest by Wednesday in order to avoid being sanctioned for late filing of their annual tax returns.
According to the tax law, the last day to file individual tax returns without being penalised is Wednesday October 31.
Apparently concerned about likely challenges the taxpayers may face if they elect to file their returns directly to the central officie, the revenue agency has appealed to the taxpayers to submit their returns at branches or via e-Filing channels before the deadline.
Failure to comply by any taxpayer will attract administrative penalties ranging from R200 to R15 000.
Specifically, the SA Revenue Service advised that taxpayers who had not yet filed their returns should use the e-Filing channels due to a likely last-minute rush which will cause long queues at branches.
According to the tax agency, arrangements have been made to ensure that taxpayers do not go through hassles in the submission of their annual tax returns.
It assured: “SARS has made it easy for taxpayers by pre-populating tax returns with information received from third party data. This leaves fewer fields for the taxpayer to complete and requires that the taxpayer merely verifies the information contained on their tax return.”
The assurance followed the taxpayers’ testimony at the Nugent Commission of Inquiry into governance at SARS about strain on the e-Filiing system. But the SA Revenue Service had earlier in the month assured taxpayers of the efficiency of the e-Filing channels.
It clarified: “The perception created that the eFiling system is on the verge of collapse is incorrect, and unfortunately has the effect of creating unnecessary alarm and uncertainty.”
