SARS Income Tax Penalties Explained: All Penalty Types for Individuals

All the SARS Penalties That Apply to Individual Income Tax

As an individual taxpayer in South Africa, you may face several different types of SARS penalties — each triggered by a different type of non-compliance. Understanding which penalty applies to your situation is the first step to resolving it.

Penalty Decision Tree

Use this to quickly identify which penalty or penalties apply to you:

• Didn't file your ITR12? → ANC penalty (R250–R16,000/month). Calculate here.
• Filed but didn't pay? → 10% late payment penalty + daily interest. Calculate here.
• Filed but understated income? → Understatement penalty (25%–150%). Calculate here.
• Filed and paid but late? → ANC penalty (for late filing) + late payment penalty (for late payment) + interest.
• Multiple years unfiled? → Separate ANC penalty for each outstanding year.

How Penalties Can Stack

A single year of non-compliance can trigger multiple penalties simultaneously. Here's an example for a taxpayer earning R600,000 who files their ITR12 8 months late and owes R45,000 in tax:

That's R15,875 in penalties and interest on a R45,000 tax bill — over 35% of the original amount owed.

ITR12 Deadlines to Remember

• Non-provisional taxpayers (eFiling) — typically due in October/November each year
• Provisional taxpayers — typically due in January of the following year
• Auto-assessments — if you agree with the auto-assessment, you don't need to file. If you disagree, file by the deadline shown on your eFiling profile.

What to Do If You Have Income Tax Penalties

• File your outstanding ITR12 — this stops ANC penalties from accumulating
• Pay outstanding tax — this stops interest from growing
• Verify penalty amounts — use our calculators to check SARS's figures
• Request remission — apply under Section 217 for ANC and late payment penalties
• Consider the VDP — if you understated income, the Voluntary Disclosure Programme can significantly reduce understatement penalties