FOLLOW UP: What happened after my SARS video
I had to go back again - after having calmed down.
When Helene Eloff, editor of Nelspruit Post, recently paid a visit to the city’s SARS offices, all hell broke lose. She discovered that her marital status was incorrectly reflected on SARS records. Also, she had to return to the offices more than twice to re-submit bank statements and to submit proof of her residence. She was livid and expressed her frustrations in a Facebook Live video – a link to her initial video is embedded at the bottom of this post.
In this first person account, she explains what transpired during a follow-up visit. Click on this image to access the video:
“It all started in September last year. According to my bookkeeper, I was to visit SARS to update my marital status and my bank details. To get this done, I took a day’s leave from work. After waiting in different queus for more than three hours, a consultant assisted me. I enquired about my marital status reflected on their records. According to SARS, I was married in community of property. They did not tell me to whom. This was corrected and I submitted three months’ bank statements. Under the impression that my records were in order, I left.
Yet in 2017, I was informed that my details on SARS’ system were outdated. On June 30, I returned to SARS. It transpired that the bank details I had provided in September last year were rejected as it had been older than three months at the time of submission. Apparently, these documents should have been accompanied by a proof of residence. What bothered me, was that this was not mentioned to me during my previous visit.
Upon my return, I was asked to submit a proof of address along with three months’ bank statements. Off I went to the bank, where I got bank statements and a separate proof of address. This was not accepted as SARS legislation prohibits the acceptance of bank documents as a proof of address – another fact not brought under my attention by SARS consultants during my September visit.
By that time, I was one frustrated individual. My further queries were inadequately answered – somehow, faults are always ascribed to the ever elusive ‘system’ – and I left the building. Outside, I shared my frustration via a Facebook live video. Since then, SARS has contacted me and I was asked to visit the branch manager. She explained to me that my incorrect marriage status was in fact submitted by a prior bookkeeper. I wonder if he knows who I am married to. My bank details, she explained, could not be accepted by the system if it was not accompanied by a separate proof of address as prescribed by SARS legislation and policies. This time, I was escorted to a friendly consultant who fixed the incorrect information on my SARS profile. “The system” would stall twice, yet I was in and out of there in 26 minutes. The service was friendly and efficient.”
To prevent having to struggle as Helene did, readers are advised to take note of the following:
• Although e-filing is a handy online way of updating your records with SARS, it is not always sufficient. In-person visits are required when documents such as your ID, bank statements or proof of residence must be submitted.
• According to SARS’ web site, the average waiting time for citizens queuing at branches is 36 minutes. The accuracy of this estimate may be questioned – various residents have complained that they had waited for up to four hours before they could meet with a consultant.
• Documentation submitted onto the SARS system can be rejected within 48 hours after its submission. Therefore, a consultant accepting your documents does not mean that it has been finally accepted by SARS’ national central processing wing.
• This is why it is important that your profile contains all of your updated information such as your e-mail address and cell phone number, If your documents have been rejected after you have left the branch, this is communicated to you using the details on your profile.
• There is no local telephone number for the city’s SARS office. The national SARS Contact Centre is available during office hours only. Contact them on 0800 00 7277.
• If your SARS complaint remains unresolved after your second visit, insist on speaking to a senior official, who will assist you in getting the matter resolved.
• Who does not have to file a tax return with SARS?
You need not file a tax return if your total yearly salary is R350 000 or less and
you only have one paying employer and
you have no other form of income (such as a car allowance, business income, taxable interest or rent or income from another job) and
you don’t have any additional alloweable tax related deductions (such as medical expenses, retirement annuity contributions or travel expenses.)
See the original video here:
