Dear fellow taxpayer,

It looked like my prediction was right: some parts of Jo’burg had so much rain in the last week there was flooding. A colleague sent pictures of cars submerged in water on the East Rand; I was very grateful I live in the North. In fact, a small part of me wishes for the rain-free, clear icy-blue skies of winter!

When will I get my refund?

So, your tax return is filed, you’ve met SARS’ deadline…now you’re probably wondering when you’ll get your refund (if indeed you’re eligible for one)?

SARS has a turnaround time of 90 days to finalise your return

Once SARS has assessed your return, it will notify you via the means of contact you chose. If you’re an eFiler, SARS will notify you electronically about the status, or outcome, of your assessment.

If SARS owes you a refund, it has 30 working days to finalise it. Your refund may be systematically selected for risk verification, in which case SARS will ask you to submit the supporting documents you used to complete your return, such as your logbook.

Warning! SARS will withhold your refund until it receives these documents! Once you’ve submitted them though, SARS will commit to finalising the risk verification process within 30 working days.

What about Vat returns?

SARS has 21 working days to process the return and finalise your claim as long as you’ve provided them with all the necessary information.

Regards,

Jackie Arendse