An assessment from SARS is not automatically correct, and it is not the final word. Every taxpayer has a legal right to dispute an assessment they disagree with. What trips people up is not usually the substance of their case it’s the process, specifically the deadlines, which are strict.
Step One: Work Out Whether You Actually Need to Object
Not every disagreement with SARS needs to become a formal dispute. If the issue is a straightforward error in a return you submitted a figure that was captured wrong, a source code that was mismatched a request for correction is usually faster and cleaner than an objection. Objections are for genuine disagreements about how the law applies to your position, not for fixing typos.
Step two: request reasons, if you need them
If you do not understand why SARS raised the assessment the way it did, you can request reasons. This has to be done within 30 business days of the assessment. It is a step people skip, and skipping it is a mistake objecting without understanding SARS’s actual basis for the assessment usually produces grounds that miss the point entirely.
Step three: know your deadline
This is the part that actually matters most. As of the dispute resolution rules that took effect in March 2023, you have 80 business days from the date of the assessment (or from the date SARS gives you the reasons you requested) to lodge a formal notice of objection. That was extended from the previous 30 business days, but there is rarely any advantage in waiting the full period. Assembling proper grounds and documentation takes time, and you want that time on your side, not against you.
If you miss the deadline, a late objection can still be lodged with a request for condonation. SARS may allow a further 30 business days on reasonable grounds, and in exceptional circumstances condonation can be granted for up to three years. This is discretionary, not automatic, so treat the 80-day window as real.
Step four: draft the objection properly
This is where most self-lodged disputes actually fail not on the merits of the case, but on the drafting. An objection has to be lodged in the prescribed form, set out detailed grounds, and be supported by the documentation you’re relying on. A letter that says “I disagree with this assessment” and nothing more can be treated as invalid. The grounds need to reference the specific provisions of the law that support your position, not just express frustration with the outcome.
Step five: don't forget the payment obligation
South African tax law works on a pay now, argue later basis. Lodging an objection does not suspend your obligation to pay the assessed amount SARS can begin collection while your dispute is still running. If you want to suspend that obligation, you need a separate application under section 164 of the Tax Administration Act, and it should be made alongside the objection, not as an afterthought. Taxpayers who focus only on the objection and forget the suspension application are the ones who find their bank account subject to collection steps while the dispute is still pending.
Step six: if the objection is disallowed
If SARS disallows your objection in full or in part, you have 30 business days from that outcome to lodge a notice of appeal. At this stage, you can raise new grounds that weren’t in your original objection, provided they don’t amount to a new objection against a part of the assessment you never originally disputed.
From there, matters can proceed to alternative dispute resolution (a facilitated process with an independent facilitator, which resolves a substantial number of disputes without litigation) and, in the small minority of cases that don’t settle, to the Tax Board or Tax Court.
- 30 days Request for reasons, from the date of assessment
- 80 days Notice of objection, from the assessment or the reasons
- 30 days Notice of appeal, from the objection outcome
Frequently asked questions
Exercising your right to object is not a trigger for retaliation. What it does invite is scrutiny of the position you're defending, which is exactly why the grounds need to be properly formulated and the supporting records need to be in order before anything is lodged.
You can. The difficulty is rarely the submission mechanics it's the content. Where the amount in issue is meaningful, or where the dispute turns on a point of law rather than a factual error, specialist drafting materially improves the prospects of success.
This article is general information about South African tax and is not tax advice. Tax outcomes depend on the specific facts of each matter. See our Website Terms of Use for more.
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