Media Release: SARS to assist employers and third-party data providers to submit accurate declarations

21 April 2026 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) in line with its strategic objectives of providing clarity and certainty and making it easy and simple for taxpayers to transact with the organization is assisting all employers and other third-party data providers to improve their data declarations. The submission period for these entities has already kicked off from 1 April 2026 to 31 May 2026.

Traditionally, the spotlight has been filing season for individuals, however the underlying process that determines if the filing experience for individual taxpayers is smooth or cumbersome, whether it be due to accurate auto-assessments, less queries, or fewer disputes, is the submission period for employers and other third-part data providers. This period runs annually from 01 April to 31 May and requires employers and other mandated third-data providers to submit remuneration and financial data related to individual taxpayers for the preceding tax year (01 March 2025 – 28 February 2026).

Third-party data providers that are required to submit third-party data include all employers, financial institutions, SARS-approved section 18A approved entities, co-operatives, mmedical aid schemes and Trusts, amongst others. A detailed list of third-party data providers who are mandated to submit is available at Third Party Data submission at a glance | South African Revenue Service.

SARS relies on the data from employers and other third-party data providers to pre-populate and auto-assess the personal tax returns of individual taxpayers which allows the taxpayer to confirm the details on their tax return before submitting. Pre-population of third-party data is the first step to SARS auto-assessing roughly 6 million taxpayers on an annual basis.

The non-submission or submission of inaccurate third-party data negatively impacted taxpayers, in that they were excluded from the auto-assessment process.  When third-party data is submitted accurately and timeously, taxpayers can be auto-assessed, providing them with an easier filing experience. It is therefore critical that employers and third-party data providers submit the latest, accurate information on time.

SARS has noted that some employers and third-party data providers appear not to be fully aware of their reporting obligations and have not adapted to comply with the evolving regulatory requirements. Some employers and third-party data providers wait till too close to the deadline to submit the necessary information, which sometimes makes it difficult to resolve discrepancies in the data provided.

During the 2025 tax filing season for individuals, incomplete data accounted for the following verifications:

1. 27 436 verifications were created due to missing or unmatched Retirement contribution
2. 81 588 verifications created due to missing or unmatched employer IRP5 data
3. 16 819 verifications created due to missing or unmatched medical data

For the 2026 season, SARS is aiming for behaviour change by ensuring employers and third-party data providers are ‘pre-filing ready’ and submit earlier than in previous years. Technical support sessions will be held where SARS subject matter experts will assist with submissions.

SARS urges third-party data providers to use SARS-approved channels, namely:

• eFiling, noting that this channel accommodates a limited volume of 25 certificates. It accommodates fifty certificates for IT3(d) and IT3(t)
• Connect Direct® accommodates an unlimited volume of data submissions
• Secured File Gateway (HTTPS) accommodates files smaller than 10 MB
• e@syfile: Employers, tax practitioners, and payroll administrators may download a new and enhanced version of e@syfile Employer from the eFiling website at  www.sarsefiling.co.za before submitting their declarations.

Third-party data providers must register for eFiling to activate these channels if not already registered.

Further guidance may be obtained in the business requirement specifications (BRS) and user guides on the SARS website at IT3 Data Submission | South African Revenue Service.  Employers may refer to Annual Employer Declaration process.

For further information, please contact SARSMedia@sars.gov.za