I am a non-South African currently residing and working in RSA. I was quite unfamiliar with the tax regulations in the country and what my obligations as a tax payer were, with regards to tax returns and compliance. To make matters worse, my employer was the least bit interested in explaining most of these to me. So, for four years, I never submitted any tax returns, and I was not even aware that I was being non-compliant. SARS notified me of this, and I hired a tax practitioner to help me sort this all out. My returns were made, and SARS assessed these and came back to me on time, not just to inform me that I was now in compliance, but also that I was going to get some money back. An audit was performed, and I was requested to go to a SARS branch and verify my banking details. The audit I was informed takes up to 30 working days - this was completed within 5 days. The refund I was told takes up to 14 days, this was paid to my account within 3 days. When I spoke to my work colleagues, they did not even seem surprised, all they told me was, SARS is like that, whoever is managing SARS knows what they are doing and they want to do what they are doing! Thanks SARS.
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