Pretoria- Tax season for over four million taxpayers expected to complete their returns began on Friday.
Launched in Durban on Friday, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has begun an extensive national communications campaign to complete various outreach initiatives aimed at assisting those who will be filing their returns.
This year's theme is "Taking the 'eish' out of tax-eish-ion" where taxpayers are encouraged to follow steps to complete the process. Taxpayers are being advised to file early, while also being encouraged to file electronically as well as to do so honestly and to complete the return in full as well as to not miss the deadline.
The submission deadline for taxpayers who submit a paper/manual return via post or dropping it off at a SARS branch is Friday, 30 September 2011 while the deadline for those using eFiling or come into a branch where SARS consultants capture their returns on computer have until Friday, 25 November 2011.Provisional taxpayers who file via eFiling have until Tuesday, 31 January 2012 to submit their returns.
The Revenue Service also reminded taxpayers that it no longer sends out income tax returns to taxpayers unless requested. It added that taxpayers don't have to wait to receive their return to submit it as they visit a branch with their tax documents and personal particulars where a consultant will help them complete and submit their return then and there. Last year over 1.5 million taxpayers were assisted to submit their returns at SARS branches countrywide.
SARS said eFiling continues to grow as the preferred channel to file returns with over 2.25 million returns submitted to SARS via eFiling during the 2010 tax season.
All tax returns are pre-populated with information which SARS has obtained from employers during the recently completed tax season for employers which ended on 3 June 2011 during which a record number of 235 882 employers submitted almost 15 million employee tax certificates.
Those who submit manually can request a pre-populated return to be posted to them by calling the SARS Contact Centre on 0800 00 7277.
On the issue of the fraudulent changing of banking details, SARS said it is taking this as a serious matter and is determined to prevent the payment of refunds into fraudulent bank accounts.
"In line with this, SARS may require taxpayers who have recently changed their banking details, or want to change their banking details, to visit a SARS branch in person to provide proof of identity and proof of banking details.This also applies to taxpayers who want to change their banking details via eFiling."
