SARS announces 2025 tax change for South African expats

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is tightening the screws on expats, with new declarations and screening systems that could trigger audits and penalties.

The changes will impact any expats who have returned to South Africa, or those who left without formally ending their tax residency, and may come back one day.

The service announced several new “enhancements” to its record-keeping systems for expats, intending to more closely monitor those who may have previously benefited from being non-tax residents.

SARS now requires these expats to declare themselves as being tax resident again in their tax forms—something not required before.

According to Tax Consulting SA, expats who previously ceased tax residency should be on alert now that their re-entry into South Africa is being closely monitored.

Should they return, expats who didn’t end their tax residency might face trouble further down the line.

“This new development forms part of a broader round of enhancements to taxpayers’ Registration, Amendments and Verification (RAV01) form on SARS eFiling, which displays all registered particulars SARS has on file for each taxpayer,” it said.

For the 2025 tax season, taxpayers who have previously undergone a formal process to cease their South African tax residency with SARS must now declare the “Reinstatement Date of RSA Tax Residency” on the RAV01 form via their eFiling profile with SARS when they return to South Africa.

This new verification step appears to be for purposes of recording the taxpayer’s future tax filing position with the reinstated date on the “Reinstatement Date of RSA Tax Residency” line item on the RAV01-form.

Previously, SARS’s verification process was limited to when taxpayers ceased to be South African tax residents only.

“This is a significant shift. Until now, SARS had no formal reporting mechanism to track when non-resident taxpayers silently resumed residency under the radar,” Tax Consulting said.

This created a grey area, with many expats returning and assuming they would be taxed as residents (i.e., on worldwide income and assets) only once SARS became aware of their return. Those days are now over.

“By requiring the accurate declaration of a taxpayer’s tax residency status, in line with their travels in and out of South Africa, ensures the Tax Authority does not forfeit taxes due,” the group said.

This new reinstatement declaration allows SARS to clearly identify those who are re-entering the South African tax net.

More importantly, it gives SARS a gateway to likely revisit and verify their tax affairs.

Tax Consulting said that SARS will likely check an expat’s original date of tax residency cessation and whether it was valid and completed as per its standards.

It will also be looking at an expat’s reasons for returning and whether they line up with previously declared intentions.

Importantly, the taxman will be looking at the full scope of taxable assets and income now being brought back into the South African fiscus.

“Returning expats should expect SARS to scrutinise their repatriation motives, financial history, and global asset portfolio – especially in cases where obligations for declaring offshore income or capital gains in their local tax returns are involved,” Tax Consulting said.

Complications for expats who quietly left

Tax Consulting warned that any expats who ended their tax residency, or simply disregarded the formal requirements to sort out their tax affairs when they left South Africa, may face complications.

“These taxpayers must know the onus is on them to prove their tax residency statuses and ensure their affairs are properly disclosed,” the group said.

Failure to declare a reinstatement, or an inconsistent narrative around the reasons for returning, could lead to retrospective tax assessments on historic worldwide income, or a SARS audit.

According to tax consultancy Leap Group, the change should also serve as a warning to any South Africans living abroad who have not formally ceased their tax residency and are not submitting tax returns.

“Unless you have formally ceased tax residency through the Tax Emigration process or Double Tax Agreement provisions, and SARS has accepted your declaration, you are still considered a South
African tax resident and are therefore subject to tax on worldwide income,” it said.

Ignoring this crucial step of the emigration process can have serious consequences, particularly if you
intend to return to South Africa in the future.

The group said that expats who have not ceased tax residency cannot simply “reinstate” it upon return. SARS will have no record that they were ever a non-resident.

This could result in SARS treating their entire absence period as continued residency; issue backdated assessments for foreign income earned while abroad; and impose penalties and interest for non-disclosure.

As part of the changes, resident taxpayers and non-resident taxpayers will receive different types of returns during the 2025 tax season.

ITR12 (Annual Income Tax Return):

• RSA tax residents will receive the resident wizard questionnaire.
• Non-residents will receive the non-resident wizard questionnaire.
• If you ceased tax residency during the year, you will receive both resident and non-resident questionnaires — i.e., SARS will apply a Section 9H deemed disposal and treat you as a non-resident going forward.

IRP6 (Provisional Tax Returns):

• RSA tax residents will complete a resident provisional return.
• Non-residents will complete the non-resident return.
• Those who ceased tax residency during the year will be issued both.

This confirms SARS is tracking formal declarations of tax residency cessation and integrating this into filing obligations.

“If you have not declared your cessation, your return will reflect you as a resident, and SARS will expect full disclosure of worldwide income,” Leap said.