SARS Auto-Assessment 2026 — When to Accept and When to Edit

What SARS already knows

Auto-assessment is built from third-party data: IRP5/IT3(a) from employers, medical scheme certificates, retirement fund data, bank interest (IT3(b)), and more. If your year is a single PAYE job and nothing else, the notice is often close. If your year is messier, it is a draft — not the last word.

Check these before you accept

Freelance or 3616 income that never hit an IRP5. Rental. Local interest above the exemption. Dividends and foreign income. Crypto (source code 4522 if you trade). Two-pot savings withdrawals (source code 3926) — the directive tax may be short. Capital gains from a broker. Donations with an 18A certificate. A home office or travel logbook SARS did not load. Side-trade expenses. If any of that is yours, edit.

2026 dates

Notices: 1–12 July 2026. If you agree, SARS says no further action. If you disagree, non-provisional taxpayers submit by 23 October 2026; provisional taxpayers by 22 January 2027. Some provisional taxpayers can receive an auto-assessment this year — same accept-or-edit logic.

Keep the paper

If you change the return, keep invoices, certificates, and logbooks. SARS may ask. A bank line alone is not proof of a deduction.

Questions

Do I have to file if I accept the auto-assessment?

SARS says if you agree with the outcome, you do not need to take further action.

What if SARS missed freelance income?

Edit the return and declare it. Omitting income is a Tax Administration Act problem, not a shortcut.