Staff author
SARS already decided your refund. Did they get it wrong?
Between 1 and 12 July 2026, SARS automatically calculated taxes for millions of people. They use basic data from employers and banks. Clicking "accept" feels great because it requires zero effort. Unfortunately, doing nothing often means leaving your own money behind if you have deductions SARS doesn't know about.
How it works
Under Section 95 of the Tax Administration Act, SARS issues an estimated assessment based solely on third-party data. They do not know about your personal expenses or side income. You have to manually intervene, review their numbers, and submit a corrected return before the 23 October 2026 deadline to claim your full refund.
Specific Scenarios
* Scenario 1: The late retirement top-up. You put a R20,000 lump sum into your retirement annuity in late February. Your investment company issued the tax certificate in May. Because SARS generated your auto-assessment using older data, your R20,000 deduction is completely missing.
* Scenario 2: The side hustle. You have a full-time corporate job but earn extra cash designing logos on the weekends. Since no employer reports this weekend income, SARS leaves it off your auto-assessment entirely.
* Scenario 3: The hidden donation. You gave R1,000 to the SPCA and received an official Section 18A tax certificate. SARS does not track charitable donations automatically. You must manually add this certificate to lower your tax bill.
Use our AI to maximise your tax refund - we'll sort out SARS
When you are not eligible
You cannot file a correction if you entirely agree with the auto-assessment and have absolutely zero additional income or deductions to declare. In that specific case, you just do nothing, and the assessment finalizes itself.
Ready to get your tax refund increase?
Complete TaxClaw’s 5-minute AI questionnaire to review your financial position against your auto-assessment. We’ll help you find ways to increase your refund and can optionally file the correction for you. We also available via email at hello@taxclaw.ai and via WhatsApp by clicking this link
Disclaimer:This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or tax advice, and is not exhaustive. Tax laws are complex and subject to change. We strongly recommend consulting with our registered tax practitioner to address your specific circumstances.