Tag: Jashwin Baijoo

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) recently surpassed R2 trillion in net revenue collection for the 2025/26 fiscal year. This milestone marks the highest revenue collected in the country’s democratic era. It also highlights SARS’s commitment to effective tax administration. In particular, SARS continues to enforce sanctions for non-compliance through SARS’ targeted compliance programmes. Despite several challenges, SARS has maintained strong performance.

In its relentless pursuit of tax compliance, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has launched a series of initiatives to streamline tax processes through automation enhancements. Specifically, these initiatives identify focus areas to strengthen detection, enforcement and voluntary compliance. As a result, SARS has introduced SARS Modernisation 3.0.

Ahead of the peak holiday season, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued a timely reminder to travellers. It urges everyone entering or leaving South Africa to use the SARS Online Traveller Declaration System. This step helps streamline processing at ports of entry.

Social influencers in South Africa must declare all income, including non-monetary compensation, as clarified by the South African Revenue Service (SARS)! On 5 September 2025, SARS issued a media release. It stated its zero-tolerance position regarding social influencers and undeclared income.

The Constitutional Court judgement in Greyvensteyn vs Commissioner for SARS and Others has been welcomed by South African Revenue Service (SARS)! Serving to reaffirm the constitutionality of SARS holding individuals personally liable for company debts, the Greyvensteyn judgement emphasises this point. It also supports SARS pursuing recovery from those persons. The judgement highlights the importance of tax revenue collection

Burying your head in the sand will not protect you from a tax debt owed to South African Revenue Service (SARS). The imminent threat to your bank balance will not simply "blow over". You will likely resurface to find SARS has attached your savings, leaving you with no legal recourse for recovery.

Annual tax law amendments now require a Public Officer appointment immediately upon forming a company. Recent updates to Section 246 of the Tax Administration Act, No. 24 of 2011 (TAA) took effect on 24 December 2024. These changes remove the one-month window for appointing a Public Officer. This amendment creates a critical shift for businesses across South Africa.

South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) have joined forces. Their collaboration targets financial crimes, including tax-related offences. This partnership aims to bolster efforts to make tax non-compliance both difficult and costly.

Receiving a letter of demand from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is never to be ignored, and often, where the correct response is not timeously delivered, spells the beginning of the end for the recipient taxpayer! In their war on non-compliance, the revenue collector issues scores of final demands on a daily basis, effectively serving as a “warning-shot” or last chance, for taxpayers to remedy the non-compliance detected.

On 27 June 2024, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) announced its enhanced Beneficial Ownership disclosures for the 2024 Filing Season. Not even 24 hours later, the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) issued a media release enforcing beneficial ownership (OB) declaration, to be able to file annual returns. This may simply be a compliance coincidence, but more likely a strategic move to eradicate non-compliance for companies, trusts, and partnerships, on all levels.