With Sars opening Filing Season 2026, many taxpayers will not be auto-assessed. Discover why this happens and how consulting a SAIT practitioner can ensure your tax return is filed accurately and on time.
As Sars opens Filing Season 2026, millions of taxpayers will receive correspondence confirming that their income tax return will not be automatically assessed this year. If you are among them, you are not alone and you are certainly not in trouble. But you do need to act, and acting with professional guidance is the smartest move you can make.
Why you may not have been auto-assessed
Sars auto-assesses taxpayers whose affairs are straightforward, typically salaried individuals whose employer-submitted IRP5 data is complete and whose profile has no open issues. If your tax profile includes any of the following, Sars will have excluded you from auto-assessment and you will need to complete and file your own return:
In short, any complexity in your tax affairs, even something as routine as a home office deduction or a rental property, is likely to take you out of the auto-assessment pool. That complexity is precisely why professional help matters.
