SARS Filing Season 2026: Deadlines, Auto-Assessments and What Changed

Filing Season 2026 opened on 13 July and the main deadline is 23 October 2026. SARS issued roughly six million auto-assessments in the first two weeks of July, and for the first time some provisional taxpayers received them too.

If you were auto-assessed and the numbers are right, you have nothing to do. If they are not, the assessment becomes final unless you act. This guide covers the dates, who has to file, what changed this year, and the specific things worth checking before you let an auto-assessment stand.

Filing Season 2026 key dates

Missing the deadline triggers administrative penalties that recur monthly until the return is submitted. The penalty applies per outstanding return, so it compounds quickly if you have skipped previous years.

Do you actually need to file?

You are not required to file if all of the following are true:

• Your total employment income for the year was R500,000 or less
• It came from a single employer for the full tax year
• PAYE was deducted correctly
• You have no other income (no rental, no interest above the exemption, no freelance work)
• You are not claiming any additional deductions

You must file if any of these apply:

• You had more than one employer, or changed jobs mid-year
• You earned rental income, freelance or side income, or investment income
• You want to claim retirement annuity contributions
• You want to claim out-of-pocket medical expenses
• You received a travel allowance and want to claim business kilometres
• You are a provisional taxpayer

One caution worth taking seriously: if SARS records show a return as outstanding, penalties can be raised even if you genuinely believed you were exempt. If you are not certain, checking your eFiling profile costs nothing.

What changed for Filing Season 2026

WhatsApp is now a real channel

SARS extended its WhatsApp service so you can view your ITA34 Notice of Assessment and account statements, and upload supporting documents through the same channel. This is in addition to eFiling and the MobiApp, not a replacement for them.

Auto-assessments extended to some provisional taxpayers

Previously auto-assessments were limited to salaried taxpayers with simple affairs. In 2026, certain provisional taxpayers received them for the first time. This is convenient, but provisional taxpayers more often have income SARS does not see through third-party data. Review yours line by line rather than assuming it is complete.

Trust data pre-populates automatically

IT3(t) third-party data from trusts now flows automatically into returns, reducing manual capture for beneficiaries.

Medical scheme selection is now a dropdown

Approved medical schemes are selected from a list rather than typed in, which cuts down on mismatches between your return and the scheme’s third-party submission.

Loss ring-fencing threshold lowered

For years of assessment starting on or after 1 March 2026, section 20A ring-fencing of assessed losses applies from a 39% marginal rate rather than the previous 45% top rate. If you run a side business at a loss and earn above the 39% bracket threshold (R695,800 taxable income for 2026/2027), that loss may now be ring-fenced and unable to offset your salary income.

The R430,000 retirement deduction cap

The most valuable change this year for higher earners has nothing to do with filing mechanics. The annual retirement fund contribution deduction cap rose from R350,000 to R430,000, effective 1 March 2026. It is the first increase since 2016.

The deduction is the lesser of:

• 27.5% of the greater of your remuneration or taxable income, and
• R430,000 per year

The 27.5% limit binds until roughly R1,563,000 of income, above which the R430,000 rand cap takes over. So the extra R80,000 of headroom is only reachable if you earn above approximately R1.27 million and contribute heavily.

For someone in the 45% bracket contributing the full additional R80,000, that is up to R36,000 less tax for the year.

The related de minimis threshold - the point below which you may take your entire retirement fund as a lump sum rather than annuitising - also rose, from R247,500 to R360,000.

Our PAYE Calculator applies the R430,000 cap when you enter a monthly pension or RA contribution, so you can see what a change in contribution does to your monthly take-home pay.

What to check before accepting an auto-assessment

An auto-assessment is built from third-party data: your employer’s IRP5, medical scheme certificates, bank interest, and retirement fund contributions. It is only as complete as that data. SARS does not know about anything nobody reported to it.

Check these first:

Retirement annuity contributions. If you contribute to an RA directly rather than through payroll, confirm the certificate reached SARS. This is the single most commonly missed deduction.

Out-of-pocket medical expenses. Your medical scheme reports contributions, not what you paid cash for. Qualifying expenses you covered yourself will not appear.

Travel allowance and logbook. If you receive a travel allowance, 80% is taxed by default. Without a logbook you cannot claim back the business portion, and the auto-assessment will not do it for you.

Multiple IRP5s. If you changed jobs, confirm every employer’s IRP5 is reflected. A missing one understates your income, and SARS will find it later.

Home office expenses. Not in third-party data at all. If you qualify, you must claim it yourself.

Rental income. If you let out property, that income is your responsibility to declare. Omitting it is not an oversight SARS treats lightly. If you are working out whether a rental property is actually profitable, our Rental Yield Calculator separates gross from net yield after costs.

Your banking details. A refund cannot be paid into a closed or incorrect account, and fixing it afterwards is slower than getting it right up front.

If you agree, and if you do not

If the auto-assessment is correct: do nothing. You do not need to formally accept it. A refund, if due, is paid automatically to the bank account SARS holds for you. If you owe SARS, pay by the date on the assessment.

If it is wrong or incomplete: log in to eFiling or the MobiApp, add the missing information, and resubmit before 23 October 2026. An incorrect auto-assessment you ignore becomes your final assessment, and correcting it after the deadline means going through the objection process instead of a simple amendment.

Common mistakes that delay refunds

• Waiting for a notice that was already sent. SARS has asked taxpayers not to flood branches and call centres. Check eFiling, the MobiApp, or WhatsApp first.
• Supporting documents that do not match. Names, dates, and amounts on your documents must match what you captured. Mismatches trigger verification.
• Filing before all IRP5 data has arrived. Employers submit at different times. Filing on 13 July with incomplete data usually creates more work than waiting a week.
• Ignoring an outstanding return from a previous year. SARS can withhold a current refund against prior-year non-compliance.

Working out your tax before you file

If you want to sanity-check what SARS calculated, our PAYE Calculator uses the 2026/2027 SARS tax tables and includes the primary, secondary and tertiary rebates, medical scheme fees credits, UIF, and the R430,000 retirement contribution cap. Enter your gross salary and deductions to see what your monthly PAYE should have been.

If the figure your employer deducted differs materially from that, it is worth understanding why before you accept an assessment built on it.

Quick reference

Figures reflect the 2026/2027 tax year (1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027). This article is general information, not tax advice. For complex affairs, speak to a registered tax practitioner.