As of yesterday, SARS has officially opened tax filing season. The instinct is to log in and submit immediately, hoping for a fast refund. Patience is actually the better asset here: a return filed before your medical aid and retirement fund certificates have loaded is a refund you've chosen to give away.
Every year, taxpayers submit before all third-party data has reached SARS's system. SARS calculates your liability based solely on what's been submitted at that moment, and if a certificate hasn't loaded yet, it won't be added retroactively. Filing a few weeks later, once every certificate is confirmed loaded, is a genuinely proactive move to protect your refund, not procrastination.
Your medical aid tax certificate covers contributions and out-of-pocket expenses for the year, and it's what calculates your Medical Scheme Fees Tax Credit, a direct reduction in your liability that applies even on a hospital-only plan. Your retirement annuity certificate, the IT3(f), supports deductions up to 27.5% of taxable income capped at R350,000, one of the largest reliefs available to individuals, and filing without it means forfeiting it outright.
Your IRP5 or IT3(a) needs cross-referencing against SARS's pre-populated figure even where it looks correct, since discrepancies do happen. And if you've earned interest or sold shares, your IT3(b) and IT3(c) certificates need to be in hand before you can report investment income and capital gains tax accurately.
Many taxpayers will receive an SMS or email notification that they've been auto-assessed. It's convenient, but it's only as accurate as the data SARS had at that specific moment. If your medical scheme or investment platform submitted late, the assessment will be wrong, and you have the legal right to edit it before accepting. Reviewing every line before agreeing to the calculation is the difference between a completed compliance obligation and a missed opportunity.
A return built on complete, verified documentation is far less likely to trigger a SARS verification or audit in the first place, and if one does happen, having your certificates ready means it resolves quickly rather than dragging on for weeks.
Wait for all certificates to load. Medical aid, RA, investment and employer certificates should all be confirmed before you file.
Cross-reference pre-populated data. Don't assume SARS's figures are correct just because they're already there.
Review any auto-assessment line by line. Edit before accepting if anything looks incomplete.
Keep documents ready for 21 days. If SARS requests verification, a fast, complete response avoids delay.
A few weeks into the season is generally enough for medical aid and RA certificates to have fully loaded onto your profile.
You can submit a Request for Correction via eFiling, though this often triggers a manual review and delays any refund.
If your return is accurate and not selected for verification, refunds are typically paid within 72 hours. If selected for verification, allow up to 21 working days after submitting supporting documents.
The opening of filing season is a milestone, not a starting gun. Wait for your certificates, verify what's pre-populated, and file once your return genuinely reflects your full year. For related tax guidance, see our blog, and current filing information.
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