The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued a reminder to all travellers entering or leaving South Africa that they must submit a Traveller Declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new rule, which took effect on 1 July 2026, requires all travellers to submit an online Traveller Declaration no more than 24 hours before travelling<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SARS has now alerted travellers that the Traveller Declarations are processed free of charge through official SARS channels<\/strong>, and any fees charged for the service are not affiliated with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It said that it has been made aware that independent third-party providers are charging travellers for assistance in completing Traveller Declarations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, it stressed that these providers are not affiliated with SARS and that their charges are not SARS fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Travellers can submit declarations directly through the SARS website, or the South African Traveller Management System (SATMS) MobiApp,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Travellers are encouraged to complete declarations before travelling and use official SARS channels for information and assistance, which is free.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Third-party assistance is completely optional, and independent providers\u2019 charges are not SARS fees, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The implementation of the SATMS Traveller Declaration follows a trial period launched back in 2022, during which time it was optional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, it is now mandatory for all travellers to submit the online declaration within 24 hours, with only a few exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exceptions include travellers who experience a system failure, lack internet access, or have \u201canother reasonable ground\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These travellers will be able to use a paper declaration and receive assistance at the port of entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, SARS stressed that this is reserved for limited cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is pushing the online system to “strengthen data integration and enhance the monitoring, analysis, and reporting of cross-border activities,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SARS said that travellers wouldn’t be denied entry into or departure from South Africa if the form hasn\u2019t been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, these travellers will be directed by SARS Customs officials to self-service declaration terminals to complete the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this could lead to travel delays, which the port authorities cannot be held liable for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explaining the 24-hour limit, SARS said this is a sufficient window for the service to conduct risk assessments and traveller processing activities before arrival or departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The 24-hour submission window seeks to balance traveller convenience, data accuracy, and operational requirements,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At present, travellers may submit their declaration at any time within this 24-hour period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SARS said it is monitoring the system and taking feedback into consideration, but for now has no plans to extend the submission window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Any future changes will be communicated through the appropriate governance and consultation processes,” it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SARS has issued an alert about its new 24-hour travel rule and people charging fees to help travellers navigate it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":850781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2120800274910441918","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2270381220448943","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18144471808719696","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[3246,27110],"class_list":["post-883945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-sars","tag-traveller-declaration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883945","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=883945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":883969,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883945\/revisions\/883969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}