The commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Edward Kieswetter said the service had already issued about R10 billion rand in tax refunds to taxpayers nationwide. From 1-14 July, most taxpayers were auto-assessed. On Monday tax filing season officially commenced.
Kieswetter spoke during a media briefing held in Cape Town on Tuesday. The aim was to update the public on how matters proceeded on day 1.
“Not only have we already assessed 5,5 million taxpayers, we have also already refunded about R10 billion to 1,6 million taxpayers, at an average of about R5,900,” said Kieswetter.
READ MORE: Dozens flock to SARS offices, as tax season officially opens
Furthermore, thousands of taxpayers flocked to various tax service centres, enduring hours in queues, to remain complaint…as not many are equipped, or have access to digital platforms. Kieswetter said 7,700 people visited tax centres on Monday. “
“Our 5 busiest branches were Pretoria CBD, Cape Town Lower Long Street, Mitchell’s Plain, Edenvale and Randburg where queue times may have been unusually long, and we apologize,” elaborated Kieswetter.
Media Statement: SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter’s address on Filing Season 2024
SARS Commissioner, Mr. Edward Kieswetter expresses, his sincere gratitude to all taxpayers who interacted with SARS over the past two weeks… https://t.co/Z3KEdoNeD0 pic.twitter.com/F0gEZaM3Mz
— SA Revenue Service (@sarstax) July 16, 2024
Nearly 2 million taxpayers logged onto the eFiling platform on Monday.
“We’ve had 1,9 million eFiling logins throughout the day, peaking at around 150 concurrent users in an hour. 191,000 returns were filed, of which 183,000 were filed digitally, 97% of returns,” detailed Kieswetter.
BEWARE OF SCAMS
This is – however – also a time criminals pounce on unsuspecting taxpayers. The commissioner stressed that the public should be extra cautious when receiving suspicious SMS’s and e-mails during this period.
“Do not open or respond to e-mails from a source that you do not recognize. Beware of e-mails that ask for personal, tax or banking and e-filing login details. We would never ask for those credentials through these links,” concluded Kieswetter.
