How SARS auto-assessment works
SARS pre-fills your tax return from third-party data and gives you 40 business days to accept, edit, or replace it. Here's what's usually right, what's usually missing, and what to do before the estimate becomes final.
The short version
Each July, SARS uses data already on file — IRP5 from your employer, IT3(b) from your bank, medical-scheme contribution certificates, and retirement-fund statements — to pre-fill an ITR12 income tax return. They do the arithmetic and tell you what they think you owe (or what's owed back to you). You have 40 business days to look at it, fix anything they got wrong, and submit. Do nothing and the estimate becomes final.
For salaried taxpayers with simple finances — one employer, no side income, contributions only via medical scheme and pension fund — the auto-assessment is usually correct. For everyone else, the things SARS doesn't see can move the result by tens of thousands of rand.
What SARS sees automatically
Third parties report directly to SARS. By the time you receive your auto-assessment, the following data is already loaded:
- Employment income and PAYE from every IRP5 your employer(s) submitted.
- Local interest from banks (IT3(b)) and the matching R23,800 / R34,500 exemption by age.
- Local dividends withheld at 20% (mostly informational — already final).
- Medical-scheme contributions via the certificate from your scheme, used to compute the medical tax credit.
- Retirement-fund contributions (pension, provident, RA) reported on IT3(f), feeding the section 11F deduction up to the new R430,000 / 27.5% cap.
If all your income and deductions sit inside that list, the auto-assessment is genuinely accurate. The risk is what falls outside it.
What auto-assessment misses
SARS only knows what third parties tell them. Anything you receive in cash, claim out of pocket, or earn from sources without a reporting obligation has to be added manually:
- Rental income. Even if it's just a flatlet or one Airbnb listing, the gross rental and allowable expenses (rates, levies, agent fees, repairs, bond interest) need to go on the ITR12.
- Freelance and side-hustle income. Income from non-PAYE work — consulting fees, retainers, online sales — together with the home-office, equipment, and travel expenses claimed against it.
- Donations to PBOs. If you donated to a registered Public Benefit Organisation and have a section 18A receipt, you can deduct up to 10% of taxable income. SARS doesn't see this until you add the receipt.
- Out-of-pocket medical expenses. Costs paid directly to providers (not through your scheme) qualify for the additional medical-expenses tax credit and need to be entered manually.
- Capital gains. SARS doesn't have a property-sale or share-disposal feed — gains have to be calculated and declared. Use the CGT calculator to estimate yours.
- Foreign income. Salary, interest, dividends, or rental from outside SA. Foreign-tax-credit relief usually applies but the income still goes on the return.
- Travel claims. If you receive a travel allowance or use a company car, the logbook-based claim isn't automatic.
What to do when the auto-assessment lands
Log into eFiling or the SARS MobiApp and open the assessment. Compare it to your records:
- Check the IRP5 totals match. If you changed jobs mid-year and one employer didn't submit, the gross income will be understated. Add the missing IRP5 and re-run.
- Check medical contributions. The scheme certificate is usually right, but verify the number of beneficiaries reported. Add any out-of-pocket medical expenses.
- Check retirement contributions. If you contributed to an RA outside payroll, confirm the IT3(f) amount is reflected. If not, add it.
- Add anything from the "missed" list above. Each addition either reduces tax owed or increases your refund.
- Re-submit. SARS issues a revised assessment, usually within minutes.
If the assessment is correct as-is, accept it on eFiling. Refunds are typically paid into your nominated bank account within 72 hours.
If you disagree
Two paths:
- Within 40 business days: edit and resubmit on eFiling. This is treated as your own original return and replaces the auto-assessment cleanly.
- After 40 business days: the auto-assessment becomes final. To dispute it you must lodge a Notice of Objection (NOO) within 80 business days of the assessment date, with supporting documents. Outside that window, you need to apply for condonation — granted only with a "reasonable" explanation for the delay.
Don't ignore an auto-assessment that's wrong. SARS can collect any amount they think you owe via a third-party demand to your bank, your employer, or anyone who owes you money. And any refund you were entitled to but didn't claim simply stays with SARS.
Provisional taxpayers
If you're a provisional taxpayer (sole proprietor, freelancer, rental landlord), you're typically excluded from auto-assessment — your ITR12 must be filed manually by the 31 January provisional-taxpayer deadline. SARS still pre-fills what they have, but you have to complete the full return yourself. The IRP6 calculator covers your bi-annual provisional payments.
Practical takeaway
For pure-salaried earners with one job, a medical scheme, and a pension fund, auto-assessment is a 5-minute formality and usually accurate. For anyone with rental, freelance, donation receipts, or capital gains, it's a starting estimate that often understates your refund (or overstates your tax). Open it, add what's missing, resubmit. Do not let it become final by default.