The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says the start of the tax filing season has been successful, after the auto-assessment process got underway on Wednesday.
SARS confirmed that around 1.5 million taxpayers had been auto-assessed on the first day, with R6 billion in refunds already paid out. The auto-assessment process is expected to continue until 12 July, with SARS targeting a total of 6 million taxpayers for auto-assessment this year.
To manage high volumes of users, SARS has introduced capacity upgrades to its systems, including a virtual waiting room on eFiling. Taxpayers are also able to raise queries with SARS via WhatsApp.
SARS Commissioner Johnstone Makhubu says the first day’s results pointed to thorough preparation by the service.
“We were able to release around 1.5 million taxpayers out of the 6 million that we are going to auto-assess this year. The 1.5 million that was assessed today has already received R6 billion in refunds that were already paid out, and this is quite encouraging because it points to the fact that the systems and people preparation within SARS, and the engagements that we’ve had with practitioners and taxpayers themselves, have proven to be a success at this stage. We’ll continue to monitor over the next eleven days, from the 1st to the 12th, to ensure that the auto-assessment yields results as planned, meaning the auto-assessment of the 6 million taxpayers,” Makhubu says.
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