SARS wants my refund back

C

C-Bread

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2020
Messages
10
Reaction score
7
Had to file outstanding tax returns from 2014, 2015 and 2016 recently. Was surprised to discover SARS owed me R40000. Two days later I get the refund payment. Very chuffed, and I do what I like to do with excess cash - buy the crypto dip. So the crypto money went up about 10% since then.

But SARS sends me a message out of the blue: 'Your tax account is R40000 in arrears, pay immediately to avoid legal action.' Are they having a laugh? How can they send people money and ask for it back? And what do I do in this situation?
 
How many days do you think I have before they start proceedings?
 
They want the money back but on my Statement of Account from 2014 to now it says I don't owe them anything. Isn't that suspicious?
 
Ask them to prove they are SARS and not a scammer, because thats not what your record said.

The arrogance that goes with this type of dealings is where conspiracy theories originates from and deephatred for governments form, and to think its a few minds behind that incompetence.
 
Last year I did my Sars quickly in July!

In Nov got a letter to double check my audit! (I was in the clear again).

The best rule for money received... dont spend it quickly!

Lol
 
Contact them through the actual call center,make payment arrangements asap
 
Log in to e-filing check for letters from Sars this will tell you if it's SARS or a scam.
If it's real there should be an assessment showing the deductions being denied. (unlikely they have actually sent the assessment) so you won't know what's going on. You can raise a dispute and wait.
 
Well do you owe them money or don't you?

It is mathematics (which is why I use an accountant and check their stuff as well)

If after you did your calculations, and you don't owe them money, file a dispute. Otherwise pay up. Hey man, it sucks, but can't avoid paying taxes or you will get nailed. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure YOUR taxes are calculated properly. There are no freebies from SARS. They are much bigger than you.
 
Last edited:
C-Bread said:
They want the money back but on my Statement of Account from 2014 to now it says I don't owe them anything. Isn't that suspicious?
Click to expand...

And is this the same one that previously said -R40,000?

Then it was recalculated and it all makes sense and hence why you owe them.
 
A few years ago I proved there are two seperate SARSES going by accidently using two cell phone numbers.
1-With the real on the ground SARS I used my regular cellphone info and still do it.
2-When I signed up for E-Filing I gave my cellphone number I use for bank notifications, so this one belongs to E-Filing.

I can't remember which but one year SARS audited about everybody for changing bank details even just slightly, like the choice of a branch in my case, number stayed the same so the other details, this caused a lot of confusion, I had to visit a sars branch to sort the mess out between SARS & E-Filing messages.

I got during this confusing period, upload & upload ducuments for nothing because E-Filing/Call CEntre said so. Long story short I got different replies & messages on each cellphone, so SARS spoke one story, while E-Filing talked another, now if I did not used 2 cellphones I would have never figured it out, so it was just the bank branch detail that changed, nothing else. A bad day in the digital world it was, Call Centre sticked to the E-Filing side.
So the mess of misunderstandings was sorted out in the branch by a specialist called in.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone, I just spoke to SARS on the phone and according to them and my IT34 I don't owe anything other than R500 penalty for late return submission :). Operator said it might have been a glitch on their side. So I'm super happy!

Should I still go to a SARS branch and double-check that this is correct? I have the case number and they record their calls, so if s--- hits the fan later on I could point to the fact they told me everything is fine.
 
C-Bread said:
Thanks for the replies everyone, I just spoke to SARS on the phone and according to them and my IT34 I don't owe anything other than R500 penalty for late return submission :). Operator said it might have been a glitch on their side. So I'm super happy!

Should I still go to a SARS branch and double-check that this is correct? I have the case number and they record their calls, so if s--- hits the fan later on I could point to the fact they told me everything is fine.
Click to expand...
Nah, you're good
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X