New tax season: SARS improves auto-assessments, but taxpayers warned to check carefully
When the 2026 filing season opens tomorrow, millions of South Africans will receive a SARS auto-assessment based on data SARS already holds. SARS has enhanced parts of its auto-assessment process and online tax assistant, TaxTim advises taxpayers to do a careful review before accepting. If you don’t respond, SARS treats that as agreement.
SARS has confirmed that 2026 auto-assessments will be issued from 1 July to 12 July 2026. Taxpayers who are not auto-assessed, or who disagree with theirs, can file from 13 July, with a deadline of 23 October 2026 for non-provisional individuals.
For 2026, SARS has enhanced its system’s capabilities. Enhancements include pre-filled third-party data, such as investment income; a simplified return with clearer questions; a dropdown of approved medical-aid schemes to reduce errors; delivery of assessment notices via WhatsApp; and a new declaration alert questionnaire intended to reduce the number of returns flagged for verification.
“SARS auto-assessments should be genuinely better this year,” says Andre Bothma, head of tax at TaxTim. “But SARS can only assess what it can see. If income or deductions aren’t in the data SARS receives, your assessment won’t include them, so it’s your responsibility to fix it.”
Third-party data
A SARS auto-assessment is generated from information supplied by third parties, including IRP5 data from employers, medical-aid certificates from medical schemes, retirement-annuity certificates from funds and investment-income certificates from financial institutions. Pre-filling these reduces admin and helps most people get it right the first time.
But SARS highlights this on its auto-assessment page: “You must make sure that your assessment is complete. For example, if you received rental income or other income, or have deductions in addition to what we reflected in your assessment, you must file a tax return.”
Common items that may be missing include:
- Freelance, side-hustle or other self-employment income
- Rental income
- Foreign income
- Section 18A donations to approved organisations
- Qualifying out-of-pocket medical expenses
- Home-office expenses
- Business travel claims against a travel allowance
- Direct retirement annuity contributions not reported by a fund.
“Missing income and missing deductions are two different problems,” says Bothma. “Missing income can lead to under-declaration and SARS queries down the line. Missing deductions means you are leaving money on the table. So be sure to check it carefully for correctness.”
What to check
Before accepting, taxpayers should confirm that the income, deductions and personal details in the assessment match their actual position for the tax year. However, where the third-party data itself is wrong, say a medical-aid or IRP5 figure, taxpayers cannot simply edit it on the return.
SARS requires the original provider (the employer, medical scheme or fund) to correct the information and resubmit it. Only deductions and income that SARS didn’t have can be added by the taxpayer when they file.
If you do not respond to your auto-assessment, SARS treats that as agreement, and the assessment stands. Any refund of R100 or more is paid automatically, which SARS says happens within 72 hours, provided there are no banking, compliance or verification issues. If you don’t agree, you can file a corrected return through your preferred tax filing channel.
“Your best approach is to take a few minutes to check the numbers against your real situation,” says Bothma.
For taxpayers who need a structured way to run that check, TaxTim offers a free Auto-Assessment Checker that flags common areas an auto-assessment may miss.
In addition, taxpayers with questions about their auto-assessment can get instant answers from TimAI, TaxTim’s AI tax assistant. Trained specifically on South African tax law, SARS documentation and over a decade of TaxTim filing data, TimAI gives answers relevant to South Africa’s tax system, not the generic guidance of general AI tools. It’s free on the TaxTim website, or on WhatsApp: just send a message or voice note to +27 69 030 8700, or create a free account at taxtim.com.
