Your First SARS Tax Return
Who actually has to file a tax return, how eFiling and auto-assessments work, the refunds workers never claim, what PAYE and UIF on your payslip mean, and how to spot tax practitioner scams.
Every month, before your salary even reaches you, money is taken off for tax. Most workers never look at it again. But some of that money can come back to you, and will not chase you down to give it. People with accountants claim it every year. This article is your accountant.
What it actually is
A tax return is a form where you tell what you earned in a tax year and what you may deduct. SARS compares it to the tax your employer already took off your salary (, Pay As You Earn). If too much was taken, SARS pays you back. That payment is a refund, and it is your money, not a gift.
The tax year runs from 1 March to the end of February. The 2026 tax year is 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026. Filing season for ordinary workers usually opens in July and closes around late October. SARS announces the exact dates each year at sars.gov.za.
Who pays tax at all? You only pay income tax if you earn above the tax threshold. For people under 65 the threshold has been around R95,750 per year (about R7,980 per month) in recent years. It can change with each Budget, so check the current figure on sars.gov.za. Earn below it, and should not be deducted at all.
Who must file a return? Not everyone. You generally do not have to file if all of these are true: you earned under R500,000 for the year, from one employer only, with no car allowance or side income, and you are not claiming deductions. You generally must (or should) file if any of these apply:
| Situation | File? |
|---|---|
| One job, under R500,000, nothing to claim | Not required |
| Worked for more than one employer in the year | Yes |
| Have a side hustle, rental income or freelance income | Yes |
| Pay your own medical aid or retirement annuity | Yes, you likely have a refund waiting |
| Got a travel allowance | Yes |
| Worked only part of the year (started, stopped, or got retrenched) | Yes, you very likely overpaid PAYE |
Your payslip, decoded. Two deductions appear on almost every payslip:
- PAYE: your income tax, taken monthly by your employer and paid to SARS on your behalf.
- : Unemployment Insurance Fund. You pay 1% of your salary (capped at a set monthly maximum) and your employer pays another 1%. This is what lets you claim money from the Department of Labour if you are retrenched, or for maternity leave. If is not on your payslip, your employer may not be registered, and that is your safety net missing.
Every year, by the end of May, your employer must give you an IRP5 certificate summarising your pay and deductions. SARS also receives it directly. You need it to file, but usually it is already loaded into for you.
How it is used against you
Unclaimed refunds quietly stay with the state. SARS does not knock on your door to say "you overpaid, here is your money." Millions of rand in refunds go unclaimed every year, mostly by lower-income workers. The most common missed refunds:
- You worked only part of the year. PAYE tables assume you earn that salary all 12 months, so if you started in September or were retrenched in June, you almost certainly overpaid.
- You pay medical aid from your own pocket. Medical tax credits are a fixed monthly amount per member, and if your employer did not process them, you claim them back.
- You pay into a retirement annuity yourself.
- You had two jobs or piece work, and both employers taxed you as if theirs was your only income.
Auto-assessments can shortchange you if you just accept them. Since a few years ago, SARS sends many workers an auto-assessment by SMS and email at the start of filing season. SARS fills in the return using your IRP5 and medical aid data and says "we have assessed you, do nothing and it stands." Convenient, but SARS only knows what was reported to it. If you have deductions SARS does not know about, out-of-pocket medical expenses, a retirement annuity, home-office costs, accepting the auto-assessment silently donates your refund. You have the right to open the return and correct it before the deadline.
"Tax practitioners" at the taxi rank and on WhatsApp. Every filing season, scammers promise "guaranteed SARS refunds, R300 fee, just send your ID, password and bank details." What happens next: they file fake deductions in your name (you are liable for the penalties, not them), they change the bank account on your SARS profile to theirs, or they simply steal your identity. A real tax practitioner must be registered with SARS and with a controlling body, and has a PR number you can verify. Nobody legitimate ever needs your eFiling password.
Phishing in SARS's name. Fake emails and SMSes saying "You have a refund of R3,417.29, click here to claim." SARS never sends links asking for your banking details or OTPs. Refunds are paid automatically into the account on your profile.
How to use it instead
Step 1: Register on eFiling (free, once-off). Go to sars.gov.za and click "Register" on eFiling, or download the SARS MobiApp. You need your ID number, cellphone and your tax reference number. If your employer never gave you a tax number, eFiling can register you for one. Everything works from a phone.
Step 2: In July, check for your auto-assessment. If you get one, log in and open it. Check the IRP5 amounts against your own payslips. If everything is there and correct, you can accept it, and any refund is usually paid within about 72 hours. If something is missing, click to edit and file the full return instead.
Step 3: If you must file, it is mostly pre-filled. Open the income tax return (ITR12). Your IRP5 is usually loaded already. Answer the questions honestly: medical aid, retirement annuity, other income. Keep your proof (certificates, receipts) for five years, because SARS may ask for it. Submit. Done.
Step 4: Check your banking details on your SARS profile. Refunds go there. Wrong or old account means a stuck refund.
Step 5: Claim backwards if you never filed. If you overpaid PAYE in past years and never filed, you can still submit old returns. Many first-time filers get refunds from prior years. File the missing years on eFiling or ask SARS to help at a branch (book online first).
Step 6: Guard your profile like a bank account. Never share your eFiling password. If someone files for you, they should use their own registered practitioner access, linked to their PR number, and you can verify that number with SARS. If anything smells wrong, report it on the SARS fraud line.
Filing is free. Refunds are yours by right. The only people who lose in this system are the ones who never look.
Where to go
- SARS eFiling (register and file free): sars.gov.za and the SARS MobiApp
- SARS contact centre: 0800 00 7277 (0800 00 SARS)
- Verify a tax practitioner or report tax fraud: sars.gov.za (Targeting Tax Crime section) or 0800 00 2870
- UIF claims (retrenchment, maternity): labour.gov.za or uFiling at ufiling.labour.gov.za
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