SARS e-filing to success……..
South African Revenue Service or SARS for short while I hate the concept of taxation and particularly to the extent to which we are taxed, I must give credit where credit is due. I used their e-filing service for the first time and was really impressed by the user friendliness of the system. Simple registration and really easy use meant that this year instead of filing late and having to pay a penalty I filed on time.
I received my assessment notification via email and text message within two days of my submission. The bad news is that I still had to pay-in. Somehow though the speed and efficiency of the system made it a little less bitter of a bill to swallow.
There is a further follow-on to this really good service. I duly paid the tax due, only to have it fully re-funded to me. The reason I found out after calling them is that my assessed tax and provisional tax accounts are separate, which means that unless you stipulate which account you are paying the amount automatically goes to the assessed account. My payment was for provisional tax. I think that a simple check of my “accounts” would have avoided the issue. Luckily I have not spent the money and therefore can put it straight back.
Never-the-less I was impressed by the e-filing system