Finance

These South African taxpayers still have to file their tax return

Luke Fraser

 ·5 Nov 2025

Most South African taxpayers have already seen the deadline to file taxes pass, but there are still a few months remaining for provisional taxpayers. 

Non-provisional taxpayers had until 20 October to file their tax returns. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) said that there should be around 8.7 million non-provisional taxpayers.

Non-provisional taxpayers are the most common type of taxpayer, being South Africans who derive an income from a single source or single employer.

Provisional tax is a separate form of income tax. It is a method of paying the income tax liability in advance, which ensures that the taxpayer does not have a large tax debt on assessment. 

SARS said that the provisional tax allows the tax liability to be spread over the relevant year of assessment, which is based on estimated taxable income. 

Provisional taxpayers make at least two payments to SARS a year, with a third, voluntary payment option available.

The first provisional tax payment has to be made within the first six months of the start of the year of the assessment. For years ending in March, this will be 31 August.

The 2026 tax year for provisional taxpayers runs from 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026. These taxpayers should have already made their first payment for the 2026 tax year before 31 August 2025.

The second payment must be made no later than the last working day of the year of assessment, which is the last business day of February.

The closing deadline for provisional taxpayers for the 2026 tax year is 19 January 2026.

A third payment is optional, made after the end of the year but before the assessment is issued by SARS. This third payment is to regularise any discrepancies in the tax year.

The third voluntary payment differs. For a year-end on the last day of February, the last business day of September is the due date. In any other case, within six months of the end of the year of assessment.

On assessment, the provisional payments will be offset against the liability for regular tax for the applicable year of assessment.

Notably, provisional taxpayers are currently making payments for the 2026 tax year. For the 2025 tax year, provisional taxpayers still have until 19 January 2026 to file their tax returns.

• SARS’s Provisional Tax Guide can be found here.

Who are provisional taxpayers 

Provisional taxpayers are those who receive income outside of fixed remuneration. 

These are usually South Africans who run their own businesses, such as freelancers, sole proprietors and independent contractors.

Most fixed salary earners are non-provisional taxpayers, but even these taxpayers could be obligated to register as provisional taxpayers if they also receive additional income.

This could be from sources such as rental income or interest income from investments.

If a taxpayer is employed but their employer doesn’t deduct PAYE from their salary (and they earn above the tax threshold), they must also register as a provisional taxpayer.

As per the Tax Act, a provisional taxpayer is defined as someone who meets the following criteria: 

• A natural person who derives income, other than remuneration or an allowance or advance or who derives remuneration from an employer who is not registered for employees’ tax
• A company, or
• A person who is told by the Commissioner that he or she is a provisional taxpayer.

That said, there are several exclusions for provisional taxpayers, such as approved public benefit organisations, body corporates, a deceased estate, a small business funding entity, or an association approved by the Commissioner. 

Also exempt are natural persons who do not earn any income from carrying on any business, provided that the person’s taxable income will not be more than the tax threshold. 

Taxpayers must earn below the following thresholds: 

• Below the age of 65 – R91,250; 
• Age 65 to below 75 – R141,250 
• and age 75 and over – R157,900

Moreover, the taxable income of that person, earned from interest, foreign dividends, rentals from fixed property and remuneration from unregistered employers, that does not exceed R30,000. 

Tax experts have stressed that, even if provisional taxpayer owe no tax, they should still submit a provisional (nil) return to ensure an unbroken filing history with SARS.

One of the biggest tax costs to provisional taxpayers is missing tax deadlines, with late penalties charged for filing after these dates (equal to 10% of the total tax payable, even if it is a day late).

The second biggest cost comes from under-estimation penalties, where provisional taxpayers pay less than they’re supposed to.

SARS gives very little room for error here, penalising taxpayers when the amounts differ by 10%.