Finance

SARS sends a warning to these taxpayers in South Africa

Staff Writer

 ·7 Jan 2026

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has urged all trustees and provisional taxpayers in South Africa to ensure they have filed their taxes before the 19 January 2026 deadline.

The deadline applies to both ITR12T trust and provisional tax returns, with the taxman warning that failure to submit will result in fines and penalties.

SARS has taken particular aim at trusts over the past year or so, working to ensure that every corner is thoroughly explored to bolster revenue collection.

As part of its broader strategy to make tax compliance easy and non-compliance expensive, the revenue service published a draft notice under section 210(2) of the Tax Administration Act in late 2025, formally proposing fixed administrative penalties for trusts that fail to submit their tax returns.

Although still in draft form, tax experts said that the publication marks a clear shift from years of warnings to concrete action.

The notice states that a trust may be penalised if it does not submit its income tax return—starting from the 2023 year of assessment—within 21 business days after SARS issues a final demand.

The draft notice was published on 3 December 2025 for public comment. Comments must reach SARS by 28 January 2026.

Notably, this is after the 19 January filing deadline—but this by no means puts trusts and trustees in the clear.

Should the new penalty framework be enacted, it will apply retroactively (from the 2023 tax year), and any trustees found in violation could suffer the consequences.

Trustees carry a legal duty to ensure that a trust meets all its tax obligations. This includes timely submission of returns, accurate financial reporting, and maintaining full and reliable records.

If the policy is enacted, these responsibilities carry sharper consequences:

• Personal exposure: Trustees may face questions from beneficiaries if penalties reduce trust value or arise from governance failures.

• Fiduciary accountability: Non-compliance can constitute a breach of fiduciary duty if trustees fail to take reasonable steps to maintain the trust’s tax affairs.

• Operational disruption: Penalties can complicate future engagements with SARS, delay refunds, and trigger deeper audits or verification processes.

• Reputational harm: Persistent non-compliance signals weak administration, something SARS has expressly committed to addressing.

SARS encouraged trustees to gather all supporting documents, verify beneficiary information, and use SARS eFiling tools or online guides to get their tax affairs in order.

“This approach aims to make the process straightforward and instil confidence in submitting accurate returns,” it said.

Trusts with fewer than ten beneficiaries that are not registered for eFiling can submit returns at a SARS branch.

Trustees can also book an appointment in advance via SARS contact channels and prepare all required documents, such as trust deeds and beneficiary lists, to ensure a smooth submission process.

“Trustees are reminded that compliance is mandatory, and failure to comply can result in fines and penalties,” it said.

Provisional taxpayers

Provisional taxpayers are currently in their 2026 tax year, but the filing season for the 2025 tax year closes this month.

The 2026 tax year for provisional taxpayers runs from 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026.

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

The first provisional tax payment must be made within the first six months of the assessment year.

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.

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.