SARS has just shortened its deadline for tax returns

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.10.1″ custom_margin=”-50px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.10.1″] The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that it will be reducing the amount of time you have to file your returns next tax season. In a statement released on Monday (4 June), SARS said that Tax Season 2018 will be shortened by three weeks, running from 1 July to 31 October 2018. It added that this impacts all individual non-provisional taxpayers, and also applies to provisional taxpayers who opt to file at a branch. This means that provisional taxpayers who use eFiling have until 31 January 2019 to file, while the deadline for manual submissions is 21 September. “A shorter filing season allows additional time for SARS, taxpayers and the tax fraternity to deal with return verifications before most taxpayers go on the December holiday break,” it said. “Often there are delays with taxpayers having to respond to our queries and requests over the holiday break. The quiet period after the first three months of tax season has now been removed resulting in efficient use of our resources.” It added that it has increased the testing phases of its IT systems to ensure smooth running when Tax Season opens on 1 July. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]