How to Check if You Must Submit a SARS Tax Return

To check if you must submit a SARS income tax return, use the official Do you need to submit a return? questionnaire for the tax year 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026.

If SARS sent you a return, or asked you to submit one, you must file. If SARS auto-assessed you and the details are complete and correct, you do not need to submit an ITR12.

If you are still unsure, SARS says you should file.

Need to sign in first? See SARS eFiling login. Already auto-assessed? See SARS Auto Assessment 2026. No tax number yet? See how to get your SARS tax number online.

Official portals

• Do you need to submit a return? — official SARS checker

• SARS eFiling — request or submit an ITR12

• Filing Season — 2026 dates and auto-assessment rules

• SARS MobiApp — same services on a phone (Apple App Store or Google Play)

• Contact Centre: 0800 00 7277 (from South Africa)

• From abroad: +27 11 602 2093

How to check

1. Open the official Do you need to submit a return? page.

2. Answer the questions for 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026. To change an answer, refresh the page.

3. If any first-screen point applies — trade, foreign work or employment, an allowance, foreign assets over R250 000, capital gains, a return requested by SARS, or micro-business turnover tax — you likely must file.

4. Log in to eFiling or the MobiApp. Check whether SARS issued an ITR12 or an auto-assessment.

5. If you received an auto-assessment SMS or email between 1 and 12 July 2026, review it. If it is complete and correct, no ITR12 is needed.

6. If you were not notified by 12 July 2026, SARS says you were not auto-assessed. If the checker says you must file, prepare to submit from 13 July 2026.

7. If you cannot finish online, call 0800 00 7277 or book a SARS appointment.

Who must submit a 2026 return

You must submit an ITR12 for the 2026 year of assessment if, during that year, you:

• Are a resident and carried on any trade (other than only as an employee) in or outside South Africa

• Are not a resident and carried on any trade (other than only as an employee) in South Africa

• Earned employment income from more than one employer that exceeds the tax threshold

• Received remuneration for services rendered outside South Africa

• Are a resident and had a capital gain or capital loss of more than R40 000

• Are not a resident and had capital gains or losses from disposing of an asset

• Received a taxable allowance or advance (such as travel, subsistence, public office, computer or cellphone) and your gross income exceeds the tax threshold

• Were granted a company-car benefit and your gross income exceeds the tax threshold

• Received an income tax return from SARS, or SARS asked you to submit one, regardless of how much you earned

• Are a resident who held foreign-currency funds or foreign assets worth more than R250 000 at any time; had foreign income or capital gains attributed to you; held participation rights in a controlled foreign company; or had taxable turnover

• Are a non-resident who received South African interest and were in South Africa for more than 183 days in the 12 months before the interest, or the debt is linked to a South African permanent establishment

• Received local interest (other than from a tax-free investment) above R23 800 if you are under 65, or R34 500 if you are 65 or older

SARS defines “trade” here as every profession, trade, business, calling, occupation or venture, including letting property, but not employment.

2026 tax thresholds

These are the levels of taxable income above which income tax generally becomes payable. They are not the same as the R500 000 filing exemption.