SARS cautions taxpayers to be careful when filing their returns

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The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has cautioned taxpayers to be careful when filing their returns this season, as there has been a rise in scammers attempting to defraud taxpayers.

The filing season got underway this week.

Non-Provisional taxpayers, or those with one income to declare have until the 21st of October to file. The closing date for provisional taxpayers or those who earn multiple incomes other than a salary is the 20th of January next year.

SARS says since the opening of the filing season on Monday, 191 000 returns have been filed. The majority were filed digitally through eFiling and MobiApp while 3% was done through Taxpayer Service Centres.

The revenue agency says over five million taxpayers were auto-assessed, with over 99% of them accepting the outcome without making changes. SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter says refunds of about R10 billion for 1.6 million auto-assessed taxpayers have been paid thus far.

“We were able to process over 90% of refunds for taxpayers that are not selected for verification within 72 hours through our fraud risk detection and redirect high-risk taxpayers for whom we suspect there may be a fraudulent or impermissible refund for further verification, last year alone, this fraud detection capability prevented almost a R100 billion on impermissible pit and vat refunds from being paid out that would have been lost to the fiscus.”

The SARS Commissioner has cautioned taxpayers to be vigilant and not fall for criminal scams that are usually on the increase during this season.

“We have become aware of a proliferation of scam messages, these are criminals, unscrupulous individuals who seek to defraud unsuspecting taxpayers by posing as representatives of SARS and sending you a WhatsApp or an email message pretending to be us, please take special care before you click on any links so here are some tips to be aware of this and to avoid it, do not open or respond to any emails from a source you do not recognize. Beware of emails that ask for personal and e-filing log-on details, we would never ask for those credentials, your passwords, your pins, your credit card information,” Kieswetter explains.

SARS says nearly 150 million third-party data records from institutions such as banks and employers were harvested this year and that these serve as the building block of the filing season.

The revenue agency says it’s processing the data through artificial intelligence and enhanced machine learning algorithms that enable it to automatically assess a larger number of taxpayers, pre-populate more returns and improve the integrity of taxpayer declarations.

Video: SARS refunds over R10 billion to over 1,6 million taxpayers: Edward Kieswetter