SARS happy with e-filing

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 20 Aug 2007

The public and tax advisors have given the SA Revenue Service (SARS) e-filing system for personal income tax a better-than-expected reception, says the taxman.

By midday on Friday, 7 445 taxpayers had registered to use the e-filing facility for the first time. Spokesman Adrian Lackay says the figure complements the more than 65 000 individual taxpayers who registered for a more limited e-filing option last year, of whom 8 504 filed their income tax returns electronically.

SARS activated a comprehensive e-filing service on 6 August, but had to deactivate it later the same day when it appeared the system could not cope with the volume of taxpayers wanting to visit and use the site.

SARS communications GM Logan Wort says the system was reactivated last Monday morning and has since been running without fault - albeit a bit slowly at times. Wort says SARS has already received over 266 000 income tax returns for the2006/7 filing season that closes in October, the majority by mail or hand delivery at the tax service's offices or at the Post Office.

Taxpayers can submit their returns in any of the following ways, he adds:

* Posting manually completed returns in the free envelopes SARS supplied with the returns.
* Dropping completed returns at any SARS branch or Post Office.
* Adobe forms can be downloaded from www.sarsefiling.co.za, completed electronically, printed and posted or dropped off.
* Taxpayers can come to SARS offices and be assisted to complete and submit their forms electronically.
* Taxpayers may also compete the Adobe forms and save it in order to submit it via the Internet by clicking on the "eFile" button on the form.

Pushing online

SARS is encouraging South Africans to file their income tax returns online. E-filing is part of a R140 million modernisation drive at the tax collector.

SARS commissioner Pravin Gordhan says the e-filing system provides taxpayers a "secure, easy and friendly mechanism to work through".

"Our plan is to decrease the number of people at the back-end of our operations and increase the number of people either providing service and education outreach, or on the enforcement side. Over the next five years or so, as this back-office machinery becomes leaner, as we automate our processes internally, you are going to get this repositioning in the system."

Gordhan says the R140 million budgeted for the upgrade is paying for the use of Adobe 8.1, which allows taxpayers to complete and submit their income tax forms online.

It is also paying for the redrafting of the pro forma, printing, setting up new scanning machinery, "reorganising our pipelines around the country, training staff, reorienting staff, etc," says Gordhan.

SARS COO Edward Kieswetter adds the tax service employs about 2 000 people on income tax assessments. He expects the new e-filing system and related process improvements will free about 20% of this group for other tasks, mostly education or enforcement.

He also promised those who submitted their electronic returns early a quick refund - if one was due.