Your First SARS Tax Return: Do You Need to File, and How

Photo: Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels

Your employer takes tax off your salary every month. So why is everyone suddenly talking about filing a tax return, and do you need to do anything?

For many young employees the answer is "maybe not, but check." For others, filing is compulsory.

The date to know: non-provisional taxpayers, which covers most salaried people, must file by Friday, 23 October 2026, according to SARS. Here's how to work out where you stand and what to do before then.

Step 1: Check whether you were auto-assessed

Between 1 and 12 July 2026, SARS sent auto-assessment notices by SMS or email to people with simple tax affairs. An auto-assessment is SARS doing your return for you, using the information your employer, bank, medical scheme and retirement fund sent in.

SARS says that if you didn't get a notification by 12 July 2026, you were not auto-assessed. You can confirm your status on the SARS Online Query System (SOQS) or on SARS's WhatsApp line (0800 11 7277).

Step 2: If you weren't auto-assessed, do you have to file?

According to the filing notice SARS published in the Government Gazette in April 2026, as reported by the Sunday Independent, you don't need to file if all your income was:

• a salary from one employer of R500,000 or less for the year, with PAYE correctly deducted, and/or
• South African interest of no more than R23,800 if you're under 65

But that exemption falls away if you had any of these:

• more than one employer during the year (the exemption is for a single employer, so a job change counts)
• a travel allowance or other allowance
• taxable fringe benefits
• income from freelancing, a side business or renting out property
• capital gains or losses of more than R40,000, for example from selling shares or crypto

SARS's own "Do you need to submit a return?" questionnaire lists these and a few other triggers, such as foreign assets over R250,000. Its advice is direct: if you're unsure whether you should file, file.

Rule of thumb: one employer all year, nothing else going on, and you weren't auto-assessed? You probably don't have to file. Changed jobs, earned anything on the side or got an allowance? File.

Why you might file even if you don't have to

Filing is how SARS works out your actual tax for the year. If more PAYE came off your salary than you owe, the difference is refunded. That can happen if:

• you earned under the tax threshold for the 2026 tax year (R95,750 if you were under 65) but PAYE was still deducted
• you paid into a retirement annuity yourself, or paid medical scheme fees that your employer's payroll didn't account for
• you made donations with a section 18A receipt

Registering on eFiling or the SARS MobiApp

You file on SARS eFiling (sarsefiling.co.za) or the SARS MobiApp from the Google, Apple or Huawei store. Both use the same profile.

1. Click or tap Register and enter your ID number and personal details.
2. Use a cellphone number and email address that are yours. SARS sends your one-time PIN (OTP) there, and they become your security contacts.
3. SARS verifies your details. If it's successful, you get an OTP to finish registering. If not, SARS may ask for more information first.
4. Log in and check that your banking details and contact details are up to date. Refunds go to the account on your profile.

On glitches: first-time users often get stuck on OTPs that don't arrive or a return that won't open. Before you assume something is broken, check that the cellphone number on your profile is current, and try the other channel (MobiApp if the website is misbehaving, or the reverse). If you're still stuck, SARS's WhatsApp line and SOQS let you query without queuing at a branch. Don't leave it to 22 October.

What to check on your IRP5

Your IRP5 is the tax certificate your employer sends to SARS, showing what you earned and the PAYE deducted. It's pre-filled into your return. Check:

• your name, ID number and tax number are correct
• gross income roughly matches your payslips for March 2025 to February 2026
• PAYE matches the total on your payslips
• if you had two employers, there are two IRP5s

SARS says you can't edit third-party data such as your IRP5, medical aid or retirement annuity figures on the return. If something is wrong, ask your employer or the institution to correct it with SARS, and then file.

Accepting or fixing an auto-assessment

Check an auto-assessment the same way: income, PAYE, medical aid, retirement contributions and banking details.

• If it's correct, you don't need to do anything. SARS says you don't need to accept it.
• If it's wrong or missing something (a second IRP5, side income, a deduction you're entitled to), file a corrected return (the ITR12) on eFiling or the MobiApp by 23 October 2026.

Don't ignore an auto-assessment you know is wrong because the outcome suits you. Leaving out income can come back as a bill with penalties later.

Deductions young people can actually claim

There aren't many, and SARS will ask for proof. These are the realistic ones for the 2026 tax year, according to the Budget 2025 Tax Guide:

• Retirement contributions. Contributions to a pension, provident or retirement annuity fund are deductible up to 27.5% of your remuneration or taxable income (whichever is greater), capped at R350,000 a year. If your employer already deducts your pension through payroll, this is usually taken care of. A retirement annuity you pay yourself needs a tax certificate from the fund. For how these funds work now, see our guide to the two-pot system.
• Medical scheme fees tax credit. If you pay medical scheme contributions yourself, you get a credit of R364 a month for you, R364 for your first dependant and R246 for each additional dependant. Only the person who paid the contributions can claim it.
• Donations. Donations to approved public benefit organisations are deductible up to 10% of taxable income, but only with a section 18A certificate from the organisation.

You can't claim for things like your commute, work clothes or a laptop as an ordinary salaried employee. Some websites and "tax agents" promise refunds through invented deductions. If SARS audits the return, you're the one who pays the penalties.

Refunds: how long they take

Once you've filed, you get a notice of assessment (the ITA34). A negative amount means SARS owes you. According to SARS:

• refunds are usually paid within 72 hours
• if your banking details need verifying, that can take up to 21 business days, then 72 hours to pay
• if your return is selected for verification, you have 21 days to upload documents, and SARS can take up to 21 business days after receiving them
• an audit can take up to 90 business days

Outstanding returns or tax debt must be sorted out first.

What happens if you owe

A positive amount on your assessment means you owe SARS. If you filed a return, payment is due within 30 days of the assessment. If you were auto-assessed, it's due 30 days after 23 October 2026.

Pay through eFiling, EFT or at a bank, using your payment reference: your ten-digit tax number followed by "T" and eight zeros. If you can't pay it all at once, SARS offers payment arrangements. Ask before the due date, not after.

If you don't file when you're required to, SARS says it can charge a penalty of R250 to R16,000 a month for each month the return is outstanding.

SARS scams: what SARS will never ask for

Tax season brings fake SARS messages. According to SARS, it will never ask for your passwords, OTPs, banking PINs or eFiling login details by email, SMS, social media or phone.

Treat any message that promises a refund "if you confirm your details", or threatens arrest for unpaid tax, as fake. Don't click the link. Log in to eFiling or the MobiApp yourself to check. The tricks are the same as in our guide to spotting job scams: urgency, a link, and a request for something private.

A note on freelancing on the side

If you earn money outside your salary, such as freelance design, tutoring or reselling, you may be a provisional taxpayer. SARS says an individual with no business income isn't provisional if their non-salary taxable income (interest, rent and similar) is R30,000 or less. Freelance or business income doesn't get that exemption.

Provisional taxpayers pay tax in advance, by 31 August and the last business day of February, and file their annual return by 22 January 2027 for this season. If your side income has grown, register for provisional tax on eFiling and set some of every payment aside. It's much easier than finding a lump sum later.

The short version

Check whether you were auto-assessed. If you were and it's correct, you're done. If it's wrong, or you weren't auto-assessed and you had two employers, side income, an allowance or a deduction to claim, file on eFiling or the MobiApp by Friday, 23 October 2026. Check your IRP5 first, keep your banking details current, and never give your OTP or password to anyone claiming to be SARS.