Over R10bn in refunds paid to taxpayers as tax season gets going

JOHANNESBURG - The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says over R10 billion in refunds has already been paid back to taxpayers as the 2024 tax season rolls around.

Filing season officially opened on Monday following a two-week pre-season auto assessment window.

So far, the tax collector has paid returns to 1.6 million taxpayers.

After the opening of filing season on Monday, close to 200,000 returns were filed.

The majority were filed online, while a smaller portion was filed in person.

During the 14 days of the pre-season period, well over 5 million taxpayers were auto-assessed.

SARS Commissioner Edward Kiewetter said that of the taxpayers who were auto-assessed and paid refunds, an average of R6,000 was paid back to each person.

"A further R4 billion will be paid out in the next 72 hours unless there is a specific reason for it to be withheld."

Despite the early bird rush to file, non-provisional taxpayers will have another few weeks to file their returns before the October deadline.