The dates that matter
SARS sent out auto-assessments between 1 and 12 July 2026, and it expected to issue roughly six million of them. If you were not auto-assessed, the filing window for non-provisional taxpayers runs from 13 July to 23 October 2026. Provisional taxpayers have until 22 January 2027.
The October date matters for auto-assessed taxpayers too. For 2026, SARS extended the window for correcting an auto-assessment to 23 October. In earlier years you had 40 business days from the date of the assessment, which for a July assessment ran out in early September. That extra time is useful, but it also makes it easy to put the job off. Once the correction window closes, fixing a mistake gets slower and more formal.
What an auto-assessment is built from
An auto-assessment is a tax return that SARS fills in for you, using only data that third parties sent it: your IRP5 from your employer, interest certificates from your bank, and certificates from your medical scheme, retirement fund and investment providers.
That data is usually accurate. It is also incomplete by design. Anything nobody reported to SARS is simply left out of the calculation. SARS is not holding it back. It does not have it.
Omissions go both ways. Out-of-pocket medical costs, Section 18A donations and home office expenses are claims only you can make, and we cover them in detail in the tax deductions most people miss. A logbook claim against a travel allowance is left out for the same reason, because SARS never sees the logbook. Income nobody reports to SARS is also missing: rent, freelance fees, a side business, foreign income. When a claim is missing, you pay too much. When income is missing, you have under-declared, even though SARS did the calculation.
Your four options, and when each one applies
Every auto-assessed taxpayer ends up doing one of these four things. Knowing which one fits your situation is most of the job.
- Do nothing. SARS is clear that there is no need to "accept" an auto-assessment. If everything on it is correct and complete, it stands as your assessment for the 2026 tax year. This is the right choice only after you have actually checked it.
- Correct the return and submit it. If anything is wrong or missing, open the return on eFiling or the SARS MobiApp, fix it, and submit it by 23 October 2026. SARS then issues a new assessment based on the corrected return.
- Object. Once the correction window has closed, or if the Request Correction option is greyed out, the route is a formal objection. You lodge it on eFiling with supporting documents, generally within 80 business days of the date of assessment. An objection is a dispute rather than an edit, so it takes longer.
- Arrange to pay. If the assessment shows an amount owing and it is correct, your job is to pay it by the due date on the assessment, or to set up a payment arrangement before that date. More on this below.
Correcting the return before 23 October is almost always simpler than objecting later, and it is the main reason to look at your assessment this week rather than in November.
A 15-minute check before you decide
- Open the assessment on eFiling or the MobiApp and read each line, not just the refund or amount owing at the bottom.
- Compare the IRP5 figures with your February 2026 payslip. The year-to-date totals on your last payslip of the tax year should match. If the two disagree, your employer's payroll has to fix the IRP5; SARS cannot. Our guide to reading your payslip shows where to find each number.
- Check that the medical scheme and retirement annuity figures match the tax certificates you received from each provider.
- Check that every bank account that pays you interest is listed, including the ones you have forgotten about.
- Ask yourself whether you earned anything in the year to 28 February 2026 that did not come through an employer's payroll. If you did, it is not on the assessment.
- Decide whether you have claims only you can make, such as medical costs, donations or a home office, that are large enough to be worth filing for.
If every answer is "it matches", you are done. If any answer is "no", you need to correct the return.
If you are getting a refund
SARS pays refunds of R100 or more automatically, usually within 72 hours, into the bank account on your profile. Amounts under R100 are carried over to the next tax year. If you get no refund, or a smaller one than you expected, check that your banking details on eFiling are current.
A refund does not mean the assessment is right. It only means more PAYE was deducted than SARS calculated you owe, based on the data it has. A missing deduction means the refund should have been bigger. Missing income means part of the refund is money you may have to repay later.
If you owe SARS
If the assessment shows an amount payable, the due date is printed on the assessment itself. Debts of R100 or more must be paid by that date, and interest builds up on anything unpaid after it. Ignoring the assessment is the most expensive thing you can do.
If the amount is correct but you cannot pay it all at once, you can ask SARS for a payment arrangement on eFiling, through the SARS Contact Centre on 0800 00 7277, or by filling in a Collection Information Statement. On eFiling you can choose a term of 1 to 36 months. A few conditions apply: the arrangement must cover the whole debt, all your outstanding returns must be submitted first, and interest keeps running while you pay it off. If you have defaulted on a previous arrangement, SARS may turn you down unless you can give good reasons. Ask before the due date, not after.
Disputing the amount does not pause it either. SARS states that interest builds up on unpaid debt even while an objection is being considered, so if you think part of the amount is wrong, pay the part you agree with.
What happens if you leave missing income out
Accepting an auto-assessment does not move responsibility to SARS. You are still responsible for declaring all your income. If SARS later finds rent or freelance income that was never declared, it can issue an additional assessment for the tax, with interest, and it can add an understatement penalty on top. Fixing it yourself before 23 October costs you only the tax you owed anyway. Undeclared freelance or rental income may also mean you should be a provisional taxpayer, which comes with its own twice-yearly deadlines.
Quick answers
Do I have to accept my auto-assessment?
No. There is nothing to accept. If it is correct, you do nothing. If it is not, you correct and submit the return by 23 October 2026, and SARS issues a new assessment.
What if I miss 23 October?
You can generally still lodge an objection, usually within 80 business days of the date of assessment. It is a formal dispute, needs supporting documents and takes longer than a correction.
I was auto-assessed but I have rental income. What now?
Correct the return and declare it. No one reports rental income to SARS for you, so it is not in the auto-assessment. Leaving it out is an under-declaration, and you may also need to register as a provisional taxpayer.
Why this is easier with a year of records
Every item on that checklist is a number you either tracked during the year or now have to piece together from bank statements in October. The medical claim is the clearest example: a year of small pharmacy and specialist payments is easy to lose track of if you never put them in a category.
Budget Hub gives medical costs their own expense category among more than thirty, so the figure is already added up when you need it. It will not file anything with SARS for you, but it makes the 15-minute check above an actual 15 minutes. If you have freelance income, read provisional tax for freelancers next.