Navigating SARS biometrics and eFiling from abroad
By William Louw
For South Africans living abroad, registering for SARS eFiling or updating an existing tax profile has become increasingly complex.
Here we look at the latest requirements, the practical challenges expatriates face and why it often pays to consult an experienced tax practitioner.
SARS biometric verification
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) implemented biometric verification on its eFiling platform in 2024 to enhance security and combat fraud.
If you have a Smart ID Card and your biometrics are captured with Home Affairs, you can complete your SARS verification online using facial recognition.
But many South Africans living abroad either have an old green ID book or don’t have biometrics captured at all.
Those who don’t have a Smart ID Card, have two options , both of which require a South African cellphone number.
Option 1: Register for SARS eFiling as a passport holder
If you are a passport holder, you can register on the eFiling platform directly, which involves:
- Uploading a selfie with your passport
- Providing supporting documents (proof of address, etc.)
- Waiting for SARS to verify you and activate your eFiling profile
The process should in theory be completed between five to 10 business days but can take 21 days.
Option 2: Booking a SARS appointment
If you don’t have biometrics and only have an ID book, you’ll need to attend a SARS appointment – either as a walk-in or via video call.
In-person appointments (walk-ins)
For a walk-in SARS appointment, you must be in South Africa, and to make an appointment, SARS must first validate your details (email and phone number).
If your contact details on file are outdated or incorrect, you won’t be able to book an appointment.
Virtual SARS appointments
Virtual appointments may seem like an easier option, but they also come with challenges.
- You must validate your contact details to make a virtual appointment, but this is often the reason you need the appointment in the first place.
- Calling SARS from abroad is expensive. You have to call a Johannesburg landline, which can take over an hour to answer. If you’re calling from the UK, for example, costs can be anywhere from £0.11 to £4.42 per minute, which can add up quickly.
- Tax practitioners can request a SARS appointment on your behalf, but only for a telephonic appointment. SARS may switch this to a video call, but often at short notice, sometimes just five minutes before the meeting starts, making it a logistical nightmare.
- Time zones add further pressure. Taxpayers in countries like New Zealand or Canada have to fit into SARS’s business hours (9:00–16:00 SAST), which may mean very early mornings or late nights.
- And in certain countries, government monitoring of video calls presents an added stress.
Client case study: updating details at SARS
One of our clients, for example, has been living in Canada for the past 20 years.
She had no active tax number or eFiling profile with SARS.
Her South African ID was outdated, so we had to link her Canadian identification to her old SA tax number to update her tax records.
Because her number was inactive, we couldn’t book a video appointment through SARS’s eBooking system.
We had to arrange a special SARS meeting, but SARS failed to send the video meeting link not once, but three times, causing weeks of unnecessary delays.
What should have taken a few days stretched into several frustrating weeks for both the client and our team.
After lodging a formal complaint, we were finally able to move the process forward: her tax number was reactivated, her records updated, and we gained access to her eFiling profile to begin the necessary work.
Documents needed for SARS eFiling from overseas
Once you manage to book a SARS appointment (in person or virtual), you will need the following:
- A certified copy of your ID or passport
- A selfie holding that ID
- Proof of address
- A South African bank account (or a signed letter stating you don’t have one)
- A selfie holding a signed, dated page that outlines your SARS request (this has to be dated and signed on the day that you upload the documents to SARS, so timing is crucial).
- A signed SARS Power of Attorney if using a tax practitioner
Other documents may be required based on your specific scenario, thus using a tax practitioner who does this regularly assists.
SARS security detail requirements
In addition to an email address, SARS also requires a South African cellphone number to validate your eFiling account.
However, most South Africans living abroad no longer have one.
Unfortunately, you can’t leave the field blank, and each South African number can only be used three times before it’s blocked.
Unless you have a friend or relative with a spare number, your only other option is your accountant or tax practitioner’s number.
But even they can only use a number three times, across all their clients.
Some practitioners have started rotating through landline numbers, but at some point, even large firms will run out of numbers to use.
Will SARS allow overseas numbers for OTPs?
SARS is reportedly developing a foreign tax number service that could allow OTPs to be sent to international mobile numbers.
However, no timeline has been confirmed, and given the pace of SARS system updates, this could take years.
A short-term fix would be allowing tax practitioners to provide an office cellphone number as a placeholder.
However, if an incorrect number is used – or one that’s owned by someone else – that person could potentially access your eFiling account.
The process of updating your SARS tax details is time-consuming and can be frustrating, which is why using an experienced tax practitioner makes sense.
Sable International understand the hoops you’ll need to jump through and aim to make it as painless as possible.
We’ve helped hundreds of South Africans abroad register, update and regain access to their SARS tax profiles.
Sable International offers comprehensive tax services and advice to South Africans both at home and abroad.
Get in touch with us at [email protected] or by calling +27 (0) 21 657 1517.
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