SARS employees Walk-for-Tax

Nearly 150 employees from South African Revenue Service (Sars) offices as far as Giyani and Johannesburg and their families participated in the Walk-for-Tax initiative in Polokwane on Saturday.
They walked 11 km to create awareness among the public about the importance of meeting tax obligations and convey their appreciation to South Africans who have already submitted their tax returns.
As the 2016 tax season is drawing to an end, Sars also wished to remind those who have not yet filed their returns, to do so soonest to avoid the last minute rush. Sars has already received more than 4 million tax returns nationally.
Brochures were handed out along the way by SARS officials, with information on e-filing and d-dates for filing tax returns as well as what to do when submitting at a Sars branch.
Each person who walked the distance received a medal.

Tax payers were also warned about attempts to scam taxpayers online or by tax practitioners who are not registered. It is the responsibility of each taxpayer to verify that their tax practitioner is registered with a recognized controlling body as well as Sars. On the eFiling home page click QuickLinks and from the drop-down menu choose ‘Conform Practitioner Registration Status’.
Paper or manual tax returns had to be filed by 23 September already. The deadline for provisional and non-provisional tax returns as well as non-provisional electronic eFiling is 25 November and the deadline for electronically filed provisional taxpayers is 31 January 2017.

Story and photos: NELIE ERASMUS
>>nelie.observer@gmail.com

Featured photo: SARS employees Walk-for-Tax and take to the streets. Around 150 employees participated in the walk on Saturday to create awareness about tax payers’ obligations.