SARS begins penalising outstanding trust returns

If you are a trustee in South Africa, the days of treating trust tax compliance as a “secondary priority” are officially over. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has shifted heavily from sending warnings to active enforcement, and it’s hitting non-compliant trusts directly in the bank account.

Following a public notice issued under the Tax Administration Act, SARS officially began rolling out automated administrative penalty assessment notices. If your trust has outstanding income tax returns for the 2024 year of assessment onwards, you could already be accumulating monthly fines.

Your immediate action plan (and how PRNC can help)

If you are unsure of your trust’s current compliance status, sitting back is the highest-risk strategy you can take. To stop penalties from compounding, you need to act now.

The corporate tax team at PRN Advisory & Tax Services can assist you in navigating this crackdown immediately:

1. Compliance Audit: We will review your trust’s eFiling profile to check for any hidden outstanding returns or active penalty assessments.
2. Swift Backlog Submission: If your trust is behind on its 2024 (or prior) returns, we will compile the necessary financial statements and submit them to SARS to halt further monthly penalties.
3. Remission Requests: If your trust has already been hit with penalty notices, we can assess whether you qualify to submit a formal Request for Remission to SARS to have the fines waived or reduced.
4. Formal Deregistration: If you have an old, dormant trust that is no longer needed, we will handle the complex process of regularising its past records and formally closing it down with SARS so it stops triggering annual filing requirements.

Act before next month’s penalty hits

SARS has made trust compliance a top enforcement priority. Don’t let a simple paperwork delay turn into a massive financial liability for your family or business trust.

Concerned about your trust’s tax standing or recently received a SARS penalty notice? Contact the fiduciary and tax specialists at PRN Advisory & Tax Services today to regularise your profile.