SARS Tax Filing Season 2026: Dates, Deadlines and How to File

The return you normally submit in this season covers 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026, called the 2025/2026 tax year or SARS 2026 year of assessment. The current 2026/27 year ends in February 2027. Select the year printed on your certificates when using a calculator: a new filing season does not make the latest rates apply to an older return.

Keep these return deadlines separate from provisional tax instalments, employer reconciliation deadlines and payment dates on your own assessment. A later deadline for provisional taxpayers does not mean everyone with an extra source of income may delay filing. Check your classification and obligations with SARS. The official filing-season page is the source for this table.

Start with SARS's Do you need to submit a return? questionnaire. Work through it using your actual income and circumstances. Being registered for tax, having PAYE deducted, or earning below a tax threshold does not by itself answer every filing question.

The assessment and filing tests are different. Your tax threshold determines when normal income tax starts after age rebates; the annual filing notice determines who must submit a return. Extra income, deductions, a change in residency and a request from SARS can matter. Do not use a salary-only exemption as a blanket rule for rental income or freelance work.

If you had more than one employer, collect every certificate. Even when each employer deducted PAYE, the combined income can change your annual liability. Check bank and investment certificates too, rather than assuming small amounts need no attention. If you are unsure which part of the questionnaire applies, use the SARS guidance before submitting.

SARS can prepare an assessment from data supplied by employers, banks, medical schemes, retirement funds and insurers. This saves capture work, but you still need to check what SARS received against your own records. A missing medical receipt or retirement certificate can change the result.

1. Open eFiling or the SARS MobiApp through an official channel and read your assessment.
2. Compare income, PAYE, deductions, scheme members and contribution months with your certificates.
3. If everything is complete and correct, SARS says no further action is required; you do not need to accept it or submit an ITR12.
4. If information is incorrect or absent, add or correct it and submit the updated ITR12 by your applicable deadline.

Read the SARS ITR12 guide if you need to amend an auto-assessment or request an extension. Do not leave an incorrect result untouched because the amount appears small. Keep a copy of the notices and supporting records so you can explain the correction if SARS asks.

• IRP5/IT3(a): certificates from every employer or payer, including income and PAYE. Ask the issuer to correct a certificate rather than silently replacing third-party data.
• IT3(b) and investment records: interest, investment income and other relevant certificates. Capital gains may need separate transaction records.
• Medical records: the scheme tax certificate, contributions paid, covered members by month, and receipts for qualifying expenses you paid and were not reimbursed.
• Retirement certificates: pension, provident and RA records, checked against contributions already included on the IRP5.
• Donation receipts: valid section 18A certificates from an approved institution.
• Travel and other claims: a contemporaneous business travel logbook, vehicle details and cost evidence; qualifying home office or business records where relevant.

Use the certificate for the correct tax period, even if the provider sent it later. Download revised certificates if an issuer has corrected its data. Keep originals and evidence of payment; having a spreadsheet total is useful for checking, but it does not replace receipts when SARS requests support.

Set aside any SARS letters requesting documents or outstanding returns. Addressing the newest return alone may not clear older obligations. Save copies securely on your own device. You do not need to upload financial documents to Mzansify to use our calculators.

1. Sign in through an official SARS channel. Confirm you are working on the correct taxpayer and year of assessment. Check your personal, contact and banking details.
2. Open the ITR12 for that year. Answer the form wizard for your actual income, medical information and deductions so the appropriate sections appear.
3. Check prefilled certificates. Match amounts and source codes to the documents you gathered. Contact the employer, scheme or fund if its data needs correction.
4. Complete missing sections. Declare relevant income and eligible claims. Read each field carefully: contributions, expenses and credits are different figures.
5. Review the calculation. Compare your estimate with the return calculation and investigate a material difference. Our tax refund calculator helps you understand the common components.
6. Submit and save the confirmation. A saved draft is not a submitted return. Read the resulting ITA34 assessment and check the statement of account for payments or credits.
7. Follow up on SARS requests. Supply supporting documents through the official channel within the requested period and retain the upload confirmation.

The current SARS return guide covers the form in detail. If a section does not fit your circumstances, resolve the question before filing. Where your affairs involve foreign income, capital gains, trusts or business losses, a basic salary estimator may not reproduce the assessment.

A refund generally arises when tax paid during the year exceeds the final assessed liability. Retirement deductions and medical credits can reduce that liability, while multiple income sources can increase it. A credit does not promise a refund: it first reduces the tax calculation, and the balance depends on what you already paid.

Use the refund calculator with the correct year, income and PAYE. If your figures produce an amount owed, check the assessment payment date rather than the filing deadline. The calculator runs in your browser and gives an estimate; it does not submit a return or request a refund from SARS.

SARS's refund delay guidance explains the common holds. Verification and audit work, incorrect banking details, outstanding returns and existing tax debt can all affect release. Check your notices and statement of account instead of relying on a universal payment promise.

Read our deductions guide for retirement contributions, approved donations, travel and strict home office conditions. The medical credit guide explains scheme credits and additional qualifying expenses, including partial-year cover and the disability rules.

Check eligibility before entering a claim. Paying for something is not enough to make it deductible. Keep the supporting certificate and avoid claiming an amount already included by your employer or reimbursed by a scheme. For planning this year, compare the 2026/27 tables with the 2025/26 filing-year tables.

Submit an outstanding return as soon as possible and read any penalty notice in eFiling. SARS may impose recurring administrative penalties for non-compliance. The SARS penalty guidance explains how the notice and outstanding returns relate; do not assume a refund cancels the filing requirement.

SARS does not ask for passwords, OTPs, banking PINs or eFiling login credentials by message or telephone. Use official channels to inspect a notice. A message promising an urgent refund is not proof that it is genuine. Verify a tax practitioner's credentials before sharing personal records.

• Tax refund calculator

  Estimate a refund or amount owed after PAYE, retirement deductions and medical credits.

• Medical tax credit guide

  Scheme credits, qualifying expenses and the additional credit.

• Tax deductions guide

  Retirement funds, donations, travel and home office conditions.

• Income tax calculator

  Annual income tax and monthly PAYE estimates.

• Medical credits calculator

  Section 6A and Section 6B estimates.

• Retirement calculator

  Estimate the allowable retirement contribution deduction.

• Provisional tax calculator

  Estimate advance tax payments for eligible taxpayers.

• Tax tables 2025/26

  Rates for the return normally submitted in filing season 2026.

• Tax tables 2026/27

  Current year figures for forward planning.

• Salary after tax

  Compare take-home pay at common salaries.

• SARS filing season
• SARS filing requirement questionnaire
• SARS ITR12 guide
• SARS refund delays
• SARS administrative penalties