SARS import duties have sharply slowed cross-border e-commerce growth and intensified competition between local retailers and global platforms. (Image source: 123RF) South Africa’s cross-border e-commerce sector is entering a slower, more competitive growth cycle, primarily as a result of the import duties introduced by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) in 2024. This is one…
SARS is increasingly turning to tech to pull in more tax. (Image: Nicola Mawson | Freepik and GenAI) Artificial intelligence (AI) helped the South African Revenue Service (SARS) surpass the R2 trillion mark in net revenue collection for the 2025/26 financial year – a historic first – as it simultaneously unveiled its Modernisation 3.0 digital…
The South African Revenue Service has formally unveiled “Modernisation 3.0”, a sweeping digital transformation programme that will give every taxpayer a unique digital identity secured by biometric and two-factor authentication, deploy artificial intelligence to automate compliance and introduce an instant payment system backed by the South African Reserve Bank. The announcement came as Sars confirmed…
Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter Tax collections are expected to remain buoyant in the medium term, with the South African Revenue Service working on eight “generation projects”, including the adoption of new technologies and upskilling staff in AI, to improve revenue collection. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana delivered in his medium-term budget policy statement on Wednesday. By…
Legitimate e-mails are being hacked. (Image source: 123RF, created via GenAI) The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued another alert warning about phishing e-mails falsely claiming recipients have been summoned to appear in court over tax issues. ITWeb has received two such e-mails purporting to be court notices – both from legitimate companies –…
A draft report by the Office of the Tax Ombudsman has found that the mechanisms put in place by the South African Revenue Service to assist taxpayers who fall victim to eFiling profile hijacking are inadequate and ineffective. According to the report, which was released on Wednesday, tax practitioners are more susceptible to eFiling profile…
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the Office of the Tax Ombud (OTO) have dismissed a report that as many as 16 000 eFiling profiles have been hijacked, with taxpayers losing refunds to cybercriminals. The Sowetan reported on Friday that cybercriminals were increasingly breaching Sars’s systems, raising questions about the security of taxpayer data. But…
The SARS VAT system has not been substantially upgraded in over a decade. Two years after the South African Revenue Service (SARS) began work to modernise the value-added tax (VAT) system, the agency is preparing to release a consultation paper “in due course”. This follows National Treasury’s mid-August tabling of the 2025 Draft Tax Administration…
SARS expects crypto-assets to be treated with the same level of diligence as traditional financial instruments. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) this week published draft regulations for the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and is inviting the public to comment. This marks an important step in bringing South Africa in line with global standards on…
SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter takes home the government technology leader award. (Photograph by SITA) South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Edward Kieswetter walked away with the coveted technology leader award at this year’s Digital Public Service Awards. Hosted on the sidelines of the State Information Technology Agency’s (SITA’s) GovTech 2025 conference, the awards recognise excellence,…
