The 2026 filing season deadlines for individuals, provisional taxpayers, trusts and companies, with the points to check before you file.
The key deadlines
- 23 October 2026 — non-provisional individual taxpayers (including salaried employees).
- 22 January 2027 — provisional taxpayers and trusts.
- Companies — ITR14 within 12 months of financial year-end.
Auto-assessments
SARS auto-assesses a growing number of individual taxpayers using data from employers, banks and medical schemes. An auto-assessment includes only the third-party data SARS holds. If you have deductions SARS doesn't know about (home office, retirement annuity top-ups, medical costs not on the scheme's certificate, rental losses), accepting the auto-assessment as-is can mean overpaying. Always review before you accept.
Provisional tax payments during filing season
If you're a provisional taxpayer, the October/January filing dates are separate from your provisional payments (end August and end February for February year-ends). Diarise the next provisional payment when you file your return.
Penalties for late returns
Administrative penalties for late income tax returns are levied per month, per return outstanding, and they add up each month, faster where several years are late. If you're behind, file the outstanding returns voluntarily and bring your tax affairs up to date.
Preparing for filing season
If your books are up to date when filing season opens, your return can be prepared straight away. See our SA tax dates page for the full calendar.