{"id":877997,"date":"2026-10-11T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=877997"},"modified":"2026-10-09T16:31:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T14:31:22","slug":"new-sars-commissioner-sends-a-warning-to-taxpayers-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/877997\/new-sars-commissioner-sends-a-warning-to-taxpayers-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"New SARS Commissioner sends a warning to taxpayers in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner, Johnstone Makhubu, has warned taxpayers that the authority will aggressively pursue debts owed to it, with a Letter of Final Demand issued for as little as R5,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taxpayers with outstanding debts are facing a much tougher collection environment, with the tax authority warning that relief mechanisms cannot be used to avoid legitimate tax obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the SAIT Tax Indaba 2026, Makhubu said the tax debt book had grown to more than R600 billion, of which about R280 billion had been identified as collectable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SARS is targeting R126 billion in collections from this recoverable debt this year. Makhubu said SARS had various programmes and statutory measures to help taxpayers settle their liabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he warned that these mechanisms should not create opportunities for taxpayers to \u201cplay games\u201d with the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, SARS introduced an Expedited Tax Debt Process with Recognised Controlling Bodies, allowing taxpayers with non-disputed tax debts older than 12 months to seek a compromise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Makhubu said almost 90% of applications were rejected because applicants could not demonstrate genuine financial hardship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In many cases, bank balances showed that taxpayers could afford to pay significantly more than they had offered to pay SARS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jashwin Baijoo, Partner and Head of Strategic Engagement and Compliance at Tax Consulting South Africa, said the tougher approach is already evident in SARS’s collection practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor as little as R5,000 outstanding, SARS would now issue a Letter of Final Demand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf no payment is received, SARS is going hard after that money with third-party collector appointments, civil judgments, garnishee orders and holding directors and the like personally liable in the case of juristic entities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baijoo said this represented a major change from previous years, when taxpayers could sometimes receive a final demand without SARS necessarily pursuing the debt aggressively, even where millions of rand were owed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis has become a massive collection drive, almost strike action, from SARS in the last 18 months,\u201d he said. A tax debt is an amount legally owed to SARS that has remained unpaid for 30 days or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not underestimate the importance of challenging an assessment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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These debts can result from errors, negligence, or a lack of knowledge, but can also arise when businesses deliberately use available cash to keep operating rather than paying their tax liabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debt can also become substantially larger over time. For example, a R2 million liability can grow to R10 million after understatement penalties and interest are added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SARS has indicated that more than R25 billion of current tax debt is attributable to administrative penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makhubu said SARS was comparing its penalty regime with those of OECD countries to determine whether South Africa’s approach was at the extreme end or broadly comparable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taxpayers who receive a Letter of Final Demand generally have 10 business days to remedy the non-compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the circumstances, options can include paying the debt, applying for a payment arrangement, requesting suspension of payment, disputing an assessment or applying for a compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andr\u00e9 Daniels, Head of Tax Controversy and Dispute Resolution at Tax Consulting South Africa, stressed that debt relief is not intended for taxpayers who simply want to pay less than they owe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A deferral allows qualifying taxpayers to repay their full liability over time, while a compromise can reduce the amount payable where severe financial hardship can be proven. The burden of proof rests with the taxpayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniels also warned taxpayers not to underestimate the importance of properly challenging an assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Requesting reasons from SARS can help establish why an assessment was raised and provide the basis for an objection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dispute does not automatically remove the tax debt or prevent SARS from seeking recovery. However, taxpayers can request suspension of payment while the dispute is being considered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner, Johnstone Makhubu, has warned taxpayers that the authority will aggressively pursue debts owed to it, with a Letter of Final Demand issued for as little as R5,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":858856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2109147243236258077","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2233254567494942","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[853,19922,12796],"class_list":["post-877997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-revenue-service-sars","tag-tax-consulting-sa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877997","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878013,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877997\/revisions\/878013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}