SARS Auto-Assessments 2025: Why Accepting Without Checking Could Cost You Thousands
Accepting Your SARS Auto-Assessment Without Checking Could Cost You a Refund
Every year, thousands of South African taxpayers click "accept" on their SARS auto-assessment without reading a single line — and walk away leaving money on the table, or worse, accepting a higher tax bill than they legally owe. Tax experts are now explicitly warning that SARS auto-assessments routinely contain omissions and errors that either inflate your liability or shrink the refund you're entitled to. If you're a salaried employee, a sole proprietor, or a small business owner who received an auto-assessment this filing season, read this before you accept anything.
What Is a SARS Auto-Assessment and Why Is It Not Always Right?
SARS introduced auto-assessments to simplify the tax filing process for individuals whose tax affairs are relatively straightforward. Instead of completing a full return, SARS pre-populates an assessment using third-party data — information submitted by your employer via IRP5 certificates, your bank, medical aid scheme, retirement fund administrators, and other data providers.
The problem is that SARS can only work with the data it receives. If your employer submitted incorrect figures, if your medical aid data arrived late, if you made a retirement annuity contribution that wasn't captured in time, or if you have additional income streams that third parties don't report — none of that will appear in your auto-assessment. SARS doesn't know what it doesn't know, and it won't chase down your deductions for you.
Tax experts are now urging South Africans to treat the auto-assessment as a draft, not a final verdict. You have the right to review it, edit it, and file an amended return if the numbers are wrong. What you should never do is assume SARS got it right.
Who Is Most at Risk From SARS Auto-Assessment Errors?
Not every taxpayer faces the same level of risk. Some individuals have simple tax affairs — one employer, no investments, one medical aid — and their auto-assessments may well be accurate. But a significant portion of South African taxpayers fall into categories where errors are far more likely.
You face a higher risk of an inaccurate auto-assessment if you:
- Changed jobs during the tax year and have more than one IRP5
- Made contributions to a retirement annuity (RA) fund — especially near the end of the tax year
- Have a medical aid and claim additional out-of-pocket medical expenses
- Earn freelance, commission, or rental income in addition to a salary
- Received a travel allowance and have a logbook to substantiate business kilometres
- Have a home office and qualify for the home office deduction
- Received any foreign income or have offshore investments
- Are a sole proprietor or small business owner who also earns employment income
For SME owners and directors who draw a salary from their own company while also earning dividends or director's fees, the auto-assessment is almost certainly incomplete. These individuals should not accept without filing a full return.
The Specific Errors Tax Experts Flag Most Often
Tax professionals across South Africa consistently flag the same categories of errors appearing in SARS auto-assessments. Understanding these helps you know exactly what to look for when you open yours on eFiling or the SARS MobiApp.
Missing retirement annuity deductions are among the most common. If your RA administrator submitted your contribution data after SARS compiled your assessment, the deduction simply won't be there. Given that individuals can deduct up to 27.5% of their taxable income (capped at R350,000 per year) in retirement fund contributions, a missing RA deduction can translate into a significantly higher tax bill — sometimes tens of thousands of rands more than you actually owe.
Incomplete medical expense claims are another frequent problem. SARS receives data from your medical aid about premiums paid, but it doesn't automatically know about qualifying out-of-pocket medical expenses you incurred — specialist visits not covered by your scheme, prescribed medication paid for in cash, or other qualifying costs. These expenses can form part of your Additional Medical Expenses Tax Credit (AMTC) calculation, and leaving them out reduces your refund.
Travel allowance under-claims catch many employees off guard. If you receive a travel allowance from your employer, SARS may include only a portion of the deduction in your auto-assessment, or apply a default business-use percentage. If you kept a logbook showing a higher percentage of business kilometres, you could claim a larger deduction — but you'd need to edit your return to capture it.
Multiple income sources not reconciled correctly create another category of errors. If you received income from more than one source — two employers, a freelance client who issued an IRP5, a rental property — SARS needs all of that data to calculate your liability correctly. If any piece is missing or mismatched, the assessment will be wrong.
What Happens If You Accept an Incorrect Auto-Assessment
Here's where it gets important for anyone tempted to just click "accept" without looking: once you accept an auto-assessment, you've agreed to SARS's version of your tax affairs for that year. If you later realise you overpaid, you can request a correction — but the window for doing so is limited, and the process adds administrative burden.
More concerning is the reverse scenario. If SARS's auto-assessment undercalculates your liability and you accept it, SARS can still audit you later and raise an additional assessment. You would then owe the shortfall plus interest at the prescribed rate (currently 10.25% per year for the 2025 tax year) and potentially an understatement penalty of between 10% and 200% of the shortfall, depending on whether SARS deems the error a result of reasonable care or intentional misrepresentation.
Ignorance of what was in your auto-assessment is not a defence. SARS takes the position that by accepting, you confirmed the information was correct.
What You Must Do Before Accepting Your SARS Auto-Assessment
Tax experts recommend a specific review process before you accept any auto-assessment. Work through each of these steps on eFiling or the SARS MobiApp before you touch the accept button.
Step one: Gather your source documents first. Pull together all your IRP5s, your medical aid tax certificate, your RA contribution certificate, your travel logbook if applicable, and any records of additional income. You need these in hand to verify what SARS has captured.
Step two: Cross-reference every income source. Check that every IRP5 you received appears in the assessment. If you changed jobs, you should see two IRP5 entries. If one is missing, do not accept — edit your return and add it manually.
Step three: Verify retirement annuity contributions. Compare your RA tax certificate against what SARS has captured in the retirement fund contribution section. If the figures don't match or the entry is absent, edit the return before accepting.
Step four: Check your medical aid credits and additional expenses. Confirm the medical aid premium amounts match your medical aid tax certificate, then add any qualifying out-of-pocket expenses SARS hasn't included.
Step five: Review your travel allowance if applicable. If you have a logbook, calculate your actual business-use percentage and compare it to what SARS applied. If yours is higher, edit the return to reflect your actual figures.
Step six: If anything is unclear, edit rather than accept. Choosing to "edit" your auto-assessment and file a return does not mean you're filing late or doing anything wrong. It means you're doing your job as a taxpayer. SARS explicitly allows this, and tax experts recommend it for anyone with even moderately complex tax affairs.
The Deadline Pressure That Catches Taxpayers Out
SARS typically opens the auto-assessment window in July, and taxpayers who are auto-assessed have a limited period to either accept or edit before penalties for late filing begin. For the 2025 filing season, individual non-provisional taxpayers filing via eFiling must submit by 21 October 2025. Provisional taxpayers have until 20 January 2026.
The time pressure is real, but it is not a reason to accept without checking. A few hours spent reviewing your assessment now could recover a refund worth far more than the time it takes — or protect you from a future audit assessment that adds interest and penalties to whatever SARS says you underpaid.
If your tax affairs are genuinely complex — multiple income sources, foreign income, significant investment activity, or business income — consider engaging a registered tax practitioner. The cost of professional advice is almost always less than the cost of getting it wrong.
SMEs Face Additional Complexity
Small and medium businesses carry an outsized compliance burden in South Africa. As a business owner, you're managing VAT submissions, PAYE for employees, UIF contributions, and potentially provisional tax — all while running your actual business. Your personal income tax return, if it includes income from the business, adds another layer.
SARS auto-assessments are not designed for the complexity of a business owner's personal tax affairs. If you're an SME owner or director receiving an auto-assessment, treat it as a starting point only. The risk of accepting an incomplete assessment is higher for you than for a straightforward salaried employee, and the rand amounts at stake are likely larger.
Staying on top of your full compliance picture — not just personal income tax, but all your business obligations — is what separates businesses that scale from businesses that get derailed by penalties and audits. Run a free compliance check at clearcomply.co.za/check to see where your business stands across SARS obligations, company registrations, and other regulatory requirements.