During auto-assessment periods, taxpayers who receive a SARS auto-assessment can submit a corrected return if something is inaccurate or missing. This happens more often than one may think; therefore, it is by no means that one can assume that the return is complete.
One of the most commonly overlooked corrections involves a contribution to a retirement fund or a tax-free savings account made months, and sometimes years, before this year’s assessment was ever generated.
When Filing Season 2026 opened, SARS had already auto‑assessed more than 1.9 million taxpayers in the first week and paid out roughly R8 billion in refunds within 72 hours. In total, over six million assessments were expected to be issued.
This level of speed reflects this year’s system enhancements, along with employer, medical scheme, and retirement fund data arriving complete and correctly matched to each taxpayer.
However, retirement annuity contributions are where that match most often breaks down, particularly when a contribution was made through a provider, or in a year that doesn’t line up neatly with the current assessment period.
SARS is processing refunds faster than ever, which raises the bar for what taxpayers assume has already been captured correctly and verified on their behalf. However, the system is only able to interpret data it has been provided, and nothing beyond that.
As the old saying goes: Garbage in, garbage out …
How the Deduction Works
Retirement annuity contributions are deductible up to 27.5% of a taxpayer’s remuneration or taxable income, capped at an annual contribution amount that is available for deduction, under Section 11F of the Income Tax Act.
With effect from 1 March 2026 (for the 2026/27 tax year), the maximum annual monetary limit for retirement fund deductions was increased from R350,000 to R430,000. Contributions above that limit carry forward automatically to the following tax year, and should appear on the taxpayer’s notice of assessment: the ITA34.
The challenge is that this figure depends on the current assessment correctly linking back to a historic contribution. When that link breaks, the deduction goes with it. Most critically, there is rarely anything that stands out on an assessment that signals something has gone missing.
Most people treat their retirement annuity as something they set up once, and never look at again. However, the notice of assessment that SARS issues is not designed to automatically detect a missing figure.
The only person checking for any discrepancies between what the taxpayer believes is a valid contribution, and the amount that SARS allows as a deduction, is the taxpayer interpreting the document, or an advisor that a client trusts to pick up such errors.
What to Check Before Accepting
It is strongly recommended that anyone who has changed jobs, switched RA providers, or made contributions outside a standard payroll deduction look at their assessment and confirm whether last year’s excess contribution has been included.
If it is missing, or the figure looks unfamiliar, that is worth raising with either SARS or the financial institution to whom the contribution was made (or both if applicable, e.g. if a valid contribution has not been uploaded by the institution concerned), before accepting the assessment or letting the acceptance period lapse.
Taxpayers can still submit a corrected return through eFiling until the final submission deadline, even after initially accepting an auto-assessment. Checking your own numbers is the same discipline you should apply to any document with your name and your money attached to it.
Other common gaps in auto-assessments to look out for include home office expenses, actual travel claims based on a logbook, and rental or freelance income – none of which SARS’s third-party data is designed to capture.
The advice for any filing season is therefore simple: Use the first month of filing season as an opportunity to double-check your tax affairs, engaging a tax practitioner if you’re unsure.
Even if you’ve accepted an assessment and then subsequently submitted a manual return, it’s not too late to correct your return. You may still submit a ‘Request for Correction’ any time up to and including the submission deadline.
Every year, there are significant numbers of taxpayers who have old contributions that never made their way back into their assessment, of which they were unaware. The earlier it gets caught, the less time and money it costs to fix.
Read your assessment before you accept it, without exception, to verify that everything is accounted for.
WRITTEN BY PEDRI REYNEKE
Pedri Reyneke is a financial advisor.
While every reasonable effort is taken to ensure the accuracy and soundness of the contents of this publication, neither writers of articles nor the publisher will bear any responsibility for the consequences of any actions based on information or recommendations contained herein. Our material is for informational purposes.