Finance

SARS auto assessments for 2026 – changes, dates and what will be missing from your filing

Staff Writer

 ·29 Jun 2026

While the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has improved its taxpayer auto-assessments since launching in 2021, there are a host of items that could be missing from your filing.

This is because the revenue service can only add what it can ‘see’ to the assessment, with taxpayers required to fill in the blanks.

According to tax experts at TaxTim, SARS has introduced several enhancements for auto-assessments in 2026, including bringing in more third-party data, such as investment income.

However, while “SARS auto-assessments should be genuinely better this year,” the group warned that it is still up to taxpayers to ensure the data is full and correct.

Auto-assessments are automatic tax filings for taxpayers with simpler tax affairs, with data populated from third-party sources.

This includes your employer, banks, medical schemes, retirement funds, and insurers.

However, there are common items that are not automatically pulled in because SARS simply does not have access to that information from a third party.

“If you received rental income or other income, or have deductions in addition to what is reflected in your assessment, you must file a tax return,” TaxTim said.

Common items that may be missing include:

• Freelance, side-hustle or other self-employment income
• Rental income
• Foreign income
• Section 18A donations to approved organisations
• Qualifying out-of-pocket medical expenses
• Home-office expenses
• Business travel claims against a travel allowance
• Direct retirement annuity contributions not reported by a fund.

TaxTim said that “missing income and missing deductions are two different problems.”

In the case of missing income, this could lead to an under-declaration and problems with SARS queries and audits down the line.

Missing deductions, meanwhile, is leaving money on the table.

“Before accepting, taxpayers should confirm that the income, deductions and personal details in the assessment match their actual position for the tax year,” TaxTim said.

However, the group flagged another issue: where the third-party data itself is wrong—for example, a medical-aid or IRP5 figure is not correct—taxpayers cannot simply edit it on the return.

SARS requires the original provider—the employer, medical scheme or fund—to correct the information and resubmit it.

“Only deductions and income that SARS didn’t have can be added by the taxpayer when they file,” the group noted.

Auto assessments rolling out this week

Tax Season 2026 will open this week, with auto assessments rolling out from 1 to 12 July 2026.

SARS said it expects to issue more than 6 million auto-assessments in 2026, with more taxpayers being caught in the net.

If you are selected for auto assessment, SARS will send you an SMS or email between 1 and 12 July 2026. The message will tell you whether you are due a refund or if you need to pay SARS.

If you do not respond to your auto-assessment, SARS treats that as agreement, and the assessment stands.

Any refund of R100 or more is paid automatically, which SARS says happens within 72 hours, provided there are no banking, compliance or verification issues.

If you don’t agree, you can file a corrected return through your preferred tax filing channel.

If you do not receive a notification by 12 July 2026, you are not auto-assessed and will have to file manually from 13 July.

Fortunately, there have been a number of changes and enhancements for manual filing as well.

This includes a simplified return with clearer questions; a dropdown of approved medical-aid schemes to reduce errors; delivery of assessment notices via WhatsApp; and a new declaration alert questionnaire intended to reduce the number of returns flagged for verification.

Tax season 2026 dates

Auto assessment process