With Tax Season 2026 officially launching next week, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has urged taxpayers to make sure their banking and contact details are up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taxpayers will officially start receiving notices of auto-assessments starting Wednesday, 1 July 2026, marking the start of the 2026 tax season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Auto-assessments will roll out over two weeks, ending on 12 July, with manual filing open from 13 July to 23 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SARS commissioner Johnstone Makhubu noted earlier this month that the revenue service is expecting to issue in excess of 6 million auto assessments in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the system is expected to build on efficiencies in previous years and continue to pay out tax refunds to taxpayers within 72 hours if the assessment is accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, for the process to be as simple and as stress-free as possible, taxpayers need to ensure that all their details, including banking details, are up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SARS noted that if a refund is due, it will automatically be paid into the registered bank account.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If these banking details are incorrect at the time of the auto-assessment, refunds due will not be processed successfully, and\u00a0taxpayers will have to contact<\/strong>\u00a0SARS.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Auto-assessed taxpayers will be notified of the assessment by SARS via SMS or email between 1 and 12 July 2026, indicating whether a tax refund is due or if money is owed to SARS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These taxpayers must then log into SARS eFiling or the MobiApp to check and confirm that all information is correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the information is correct, no further action is required. If the information is not correct, they must immediately review all details and submit any missing information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taxpayers can check their auto-assessment status via SARS’ Online Query System (SOQS). <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, SARS stressed that taxpayers should wait for their SMS\/email between 1 and 12 July 2026 to confirm they are being auto-assessed before checking their status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ensuring details are up to date isn’t only beneficial for getting tax returns paid quicker, but also so that taxpayers can avoid possible penalties or falling for scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SARS discontinued the printing and posting of physical letters in 2025 and moved entirely to digital correspondence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SARS generates various letters, including notices of tax assessments, as well as time-sensitive information such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Missing the deadlines issued in these notices could result in penalties in cases of enforcement notices, or other consequences, such as being flagged as non-compliant, which could impact future filings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To mitigate these risks, taxpayers should ensure that they have the following details up to date:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tax season is also prime scam season<\/strong>, with criminals and fraudsters increasing activity to take advantage of taxpayers who are on the lookout for SARS communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phishing scams involving false notices and spoofing SARS emails are extremely common, with many prompting taxpayers to update their banking details to process payments via links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SARS said it will never request banking details in any communication that taxpayers receive via email, or SMS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It added that it will also not send taxpayers to any hyperlinks to other websites\u2014even those of banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All communication should be confirmed, and all payments made, through SARS eFiling or the MobiApp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To avoid falling for scams, taxpayers should address any doubts and double-check their banking and contact details before the season begins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With Tax Season 2026 officially launching next week, taxpayers should make sure their banking and contact details are up to date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":859622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[3246,24659],"class_list":["post-864738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-sars","tag-tax-season-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864738"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":864784,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864738\/revisions\/864784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tax season 2026 dates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Income Taxpayer<\/th> Open<\/th> Close<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Auto-Assessments<\/td> 1 July 2026<\/td> 12 July 2026<\/td><\/tr> Individual<\/td> 13 July 2026<\/td> 23 October 2026<\/td><\/tr> Provisional<\/td> 13 July 2026<\/td> 22 January 2027<\/td><\/tr> Trusts<\/td> 13 July 2026<\/td> 22 January 2027<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Auto assessment process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1<\/td> Auto assessments roll out from 1 July 2026 to 12 July 2026<\/td><\/tr> 2<\/td> SARS notifies taxpayer of an auto assessment via SMS or email<\/td><\/tr> 3<\/td> Taxpayer checks ITA34 Notice of Assessment on SARS eFiling, MobiApp or via WhatsApp<\/td><\/tr> 4<\/td> If correct<\/strong>, the taxpayer doesn’t need to do anything else.
If not correct<\/strong>, the taxpayer must immediately review all details and submit any missing information via eFiling or the MobiApp<\/td><\/tr>5<\/td> Auto-assessment status can be checked via SARS’ Online Query System<\/td><\/tr> 6<\/td> Tax refund should be paid within 72 hours \/ Tax debt must be paid by the indicated deadline<\/td><\/tr> 7<\/td> Taxpayer has until 23 October to request a reduced or additional assessment<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Avoid scams and penalties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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