SARS has a new weapon to come after taxpayers hard
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has upgraded its automatic exchange of information systems to cover over 120 jurisdictions worldwide, leaving virtually nowhere for people to hide their funds.
The upgrade was achieved by adopting the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and an updated version of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).
Effective Sunday, 1 March 2026, this routine exchange of information will involve the systematic and periodic transmission of “bulk” taxpayer information from the source country to the taxpayer’s country of residence.
Put simply, financial institutions around the world will exchange taxpayer information to ensure everyone pays the right amount of tax.
According to tax experts at Tax Consulting SA, this will allow SARS to obtain and analyse offshore funds, assets, and other interests held by South African taxpayers in over 120 other countries.
This will boost the taxman’s ability to detect non-compliance and allow it to pursue sanctions against offending taxpayers.
“Although the automatic exchange may be a foreign concept to South African taxpayers, SARS has been able to request taxpayer information from third parties for many years,” the experts said.
In fact, the Tax Administration Act both empowers and obliges SARS, if in accordance with an “international tax agreement”, to exchange information.
Beyond sharing information, SARS may also recover tax on behalf of foreign governments—a statutory power widely used for many years.
Tax Consulting noted that investigating South African taxpayers’ offshore interests has long been on SARS’s agenda, with foreign asset/income disclosure notices issued as far back as 2020, requiring blanket disclosure of offshore assets.
“At the time, many taxpayers may have thought best to feign ignorance, but now, there is no escape for the non-compliant South African taxpayer, with over 120 countries playing open cards with SARS,” it said.
What changes under the AEOI regime is SARS’ ability to enforce sanctions on non-compliance, more surgically, and with far greater access to third-party data.
SARS searching for money
Tax Consulting said SARS will not accept ignorance as an excuse, as it has adopted a much more aggressive stance towards non-compliant taxpayers.
This has been flagged by several analysts and tax experts, who warn that this aggression is likely to intensify in 2026 and beyond as the National Treasury pushes for higher collections.
In the 2026 Budget, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana revised the 2025/26 revenue estimate upward to R2,006.9 billion, from the MTBPS 2025 estimate of R2,005.3 billion.
While SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter welcomed the revision, he stated clearly that the revenue service will “spare no effort” to achieve the estimate.
Kieswetter, who will retire from the position in April 2026, specifically mentioned pushing up compliance revenue.
Over the past six years, compliance revenue has become a defining feature of SARS’ revenue performance, rising from R128.4 billion in 2019/20 to R304.0 billion in 2024/25.
Compliance revenue has grown at a compound annual rate of 18.8%. However, the experts said this rise directly correlates to increased audits and ramped-up pressure on taxpayers.
With a bigger target now set, taxpayers can expect this trend not only to continue but to intensify.
According to Tax Consulting, SARS has pushed hard to collect taxes owed and has used a variety of methods, including salary garnishments, Sheriff callouts, and even taking money directly from business and/or personal accounts.
“The extension of SARS’ reach has now been concretised, empowering SARS further to reach beyond the shores of South Africa and obtain all necessary information,” the group said.
The burden of proof remains on the taxpayer, particularly where foreign income, capital gains or source must be substantiated, it added.
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