Tax season: Don't fall victim to scams, warns SARS

With the 2025 tax season in full swing, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued a warning to taxpayers about a new scam designed to steal personal information under the guise of a tax refund audit.

SARS explained that some individuals would be auto-assessed, and they did not need to take any further action if they were satisfied with the calculations. 

"If the taxpayer believes that SARS has not captured all the necessary information, they are free to make changes on their tax returns and submit the missing information through eFiling by October 20."

The revenue collector said taxpayers who are not automatically assessed must file their tax returns themselves. Filing opened on July 21 and closes on October 20, 2025 for non-provisional individuals.

However, while the streamlined process was intended to make filing easier, scammers are now exploiting the period of increased taxpayer activity.

According to SARS the latest scam involves an SMS that claims that a revenue collector is auditing a tax refund.

"The latest scam is a SMS indicating that SARS is conducting an audit on a Tax refund.  The link leads you to a phishing website, aimed at stealing your information. See the scam prototype here".

The revenue collector also advised taxpayers to verify that any emails or SMS messages claiming to be from SARS are authentic before clicking on any links.

"Always make sure the email or SMS is genuine before you click on any link.".

In a separate advisory, the revenue collector reiterated that it will never ask for personal, tax, banking or eFiling details via email or SMS, nor will it send hyperlinks to external websites.

mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za

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