14 January 2009
Many taxpayers in the country have again waited for the last two weeks of
the Tax Season to submit their income tax returns to South African Revenue
Service (SARS). To date 850 000 returns have been submitted via eFiling and
SARS expects that this number may more than double before the submission
deadline.
However, it seems that many people require assistance from SARS with their
eFiling logon and password details. This is putting immense pressure on the
SARS call centre. SARS appeals to taxpayers and tax practitioners who have
forgotten their password or login details to visit http://www.sarsefiling.co.za where they can
resolve this online rather than over the telephone. The call centre can handle
up to 500 calls simultaneously but is currently receiving many more as
taxpayers and practitioners have left things to the last minute. Additional
call centre agents have been deployed today.
Since the start of this year SARS has also received numerous requests from tax
practitioners for more time to submit the returns of their clients.
For these reasons SARS has decided on the following:
* Taxpayers using eFiling have an additional 15 days until 5 February 2009 to
submit their income tax returns electronically.
* Taxpayers who continue to encounter problems to access the call centre are
advised to go to a SARS branch office for assistance.
* Until 23 January 2009, the initial deadline, SARS will be able to complete
and capture the return of the taxpayer electronically. This channel of
assistance is available ONLY until 23 January 2009. After that date all returns
must be submitted electronically via eFiling.
SARS also requests callers to the SARS call centre to be patient and
considerate when they have problems to get through or are kept waiting for long
periods. To speed up assistance callers are reminded to have their ID number
and income tax reference numbers at hand when they call and, if possible to
call during off-peak periods (before 9 am and after 4 pm).
Issued by: South African Revenue Services
14 January 2009
Source: South African Revenue Services (http://www.sars.gov.za/)
