The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has issued an alert about a new scam doing the rounds, targeting taxpayers with a fraudulent “Tax Settlement Notification”.
The notification closely resembles official SARS communications urging taxpayers to make payments to fraudulent bank accounts to clear outstanding amounts.
SARS said that notices are often titled “Settlement Notification” or “Final Demand” and contain links.
The tax service stressed that it never sends links other than SARS links in SMS/emails for payments, and it never asks for banking details directly.
SARS also does not accept direct deposits into personal accounts.
It urged taxpayers to beware of these kinds of emails and to pay extra attention to the signs of a scam.
The latest fraud warning joins a long list of similar scams that have emerged over the past few years, specifically trying to take advantage of the tax service’s new automated systems and communications.
Some of the key scams that have emerged include:
- Threats of SARS issuing court summonses against taxpayers
- Threats of SARS blacklisting taxpayers
- Threats of SARS issuing stop orders on accounts
- Notice of outstanding amounts owed to taxpayers
- Notice of outstanding amounts owed to SARS
- Notice of delayed payments pending FICA review
- Alerts of pending or active SARS audits
- Urgent Settlement Notices
- Latest: Tax Settlement or Final Demand Notification
Examples of these scams and more can be seen on SARS’ scams page. An example of the latest scam can be seen below:
To best protect themselves from such scams, SARS noted that taxpayers should be aware of the following:
- Do not open or respond to emails from unknown sources.
- Beware of emails that ask for personal, tax, banking and eFiling details (login credentials, passwords, pins, credit/debit card information, etc.).
- SARS will never ask for your credit card details.
- Do not click links: Avoid clicking links in emails or attachments (especially .htm or .html files).
- Verify on eFiling: Always check your tax status directly on the official SARS eFiling website.
- Use Proper Payment Channels: Use the pre-registered bank beneficiary on your bank app for payments.
- Report Phishing: Forward suspicious emails to [email protected].
The warning comes as South Africa is about to enter its 2026 tax season.
SARS has not yet published the official window for tax season 2026, but has confirmed that it will run through to 23 October 2026 for individual taxpayers and to 22 January 2027 for provisional taxpayers.
The tax year under assessment for 2026 is the financial year for companies that end during the 2026 calendar year, and the 12-month period ending 28 February 2026 for individuals.
The tax season usually opens up in mid-July, with a period of auto-assessments running two weeks before. SARS is expected to announce the official dates in June.
Tax season 2026 dates
| Income Taxpayer | Open | Close |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-Assessments | TBA | TBA |
| Individual | TBA | 23 October 2026 |
| Provisional | TBA | 22 January 2027 |
| Trusts | TBA | 22 January 2027 |
