SARS scam warning for South African taxpayers
Tax filing season in South Africa is around the corner, and taxpayers across the country have been warned to exercise discretion.
The tax season for individual taxpayers (non-provisional) will open on 13 July 2026 and run to 23 October 2026.
Auto assessments will begin close to two weeks earlier, starting 1 July 2026 and running through to 12 July.
Non-provisional taxpayers are those who earn a regular salary or wage from an employer and have PAYE deducted throughout the year.
Thalia Pillay, co-founder and CEO of Orca Fraud, said that tax season leads to a predictable spike in messages claiming to be from SARS.
“Check your SMS inbox or email inbox. There’s a good chance a message claiming to be from SARS is already waiting for you,” said Pillay.
“Whether it’s a tax refund you never filed for or an urgent settlement demand designed to trigger panic.”
SARS also moved entirely to digital correspondence, discounting physical mail for all system-generated letters.
Pillay said that this leads to more legitimate SARS communication landing in inboxes and SMS threads, which also means more plausible cover for scams designed to look like it.
“When you’re expecting to hear from SARS, a message that looks like SARS is easier to act on without checking,” she said.
Four scams typically are in circulation during the filing windows, with Pillay providing a breakdown of each and how to spot them:
The fake settlement notification
A common type of fraud is one where an email and SMS arrive with an outstanding tax amount, specific, urgent, due by a named date.
Payment instructions are included, including a bank account number and a reference, while the language is formal and pressured.
“SARS has documented this exact scam and is clear on the rules: it will never request banking details by post, email, or SMS, and it will never provide a bank account number for payment,” said Pillay.
“All legitimate tax payments go through eFiling or the SARS payment portal. Genuine SARS correspondence always includes your taxpayer reference number, your ID number, and your name.”
The fake refund SMS
Another scam involves taxpayers receiving a message claiming a refund has been issued to their account for a specific amount.
The message then instructs you to click a link to verify your details or link your credit card to receive it.
SARS never asks for credit card details; refunds are paid to the bank account registered on your eFiling profile, so no link-tapping or card linking is required.
The fake letter of demand
“A more threatening message: SARS has issued a letter of demand, a court summons is imminent, and blacklisting may follow,” said Pillay.
“A link or attachment leads to a phishing site designed to harvest your information. SARS has specifically flagged this type. It will not send you hyperlinks to other websites, including to banks or legal notices.”
She added that any genuine legal action from SARS is visible in your eFiling profile and is not delivered via a link in an unsolicited message.
The fake auto-assessment or compliance notice
One may also be prompted to confirm their compliance status, banking details, or complete their auto-assessment via a link.
Pillay said that the destination of the link is a proxy website that mimics the eFiling interface. SARS doesn’t send links to external websites for compliance purposes.
If you need to complete your auto-assessment or update your banking details, it is better to go to SARS directly. “Do not use a link from a message to get there,” warned Pillay.
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