SARS tax compliance status: how the PIN works, why it turns non-compliant, and how to fix it
By Matt Owen, CA(SA) — founder, Komply
Your tax compliance status is SARS’s live answer to one question: is this business up to date with its returns and its payments? It turns non-compliant when a return is overdue or a debt goes unpaid, unless SARS has agreed an arrangement for it, and back to compliant when you fix the cause. The PIN you give a buyer doesn’t prove anything by itself; it lets them look at the status as it stands when they check.
This guide covers the business side: getting a PIN, finding the reason for a red status, fixing it, and what a non-compliant flag on National Treasury’s Central Supplier Database means. SARS’s guide to the TCS functionality on eFiling has the screen-by-screen detail.
How do I get a tax compliance status PIN for my business?
On eFiling or through the SARS Online Query System. On eFiling the business first activates the Tax Compliance Status service, which needs at least one active registration for income tax, PAYE or VAT, and the eFiling administrator has to give the user TCS rights. SARS also wants every tax type the business is registered for merged into one profile, or declared on the ERC01 form, or the PIN may be delayed.
Then you request a status:
- A business can only request “Good Standing”. There is no separate tender type any more.
- You choose how long the PIN works: 12 months by default, or any number of months from 1 to 12.
- SARS sends the PIN by SMS to the cell number on the request once it approves it. Each request gets its own PIN, and you can cancel a PIN or ask for a new one while the request stands approved.
- It costs nothing, SARS says. The Tax Administration Act gives SARS 21 business days to give or refuse a buyer access to your status, longer if it needs to confirm that the status is correct.
On the Online Query System a company gives its registration number and tax number. The SARS MobiApp also issues PINs, but only to individuals and registered tax practitioners.
Why does my tax status say non-compliant?
Under the Tax Administration Act a business is compliant only if it is registered and has no outstanding tax debt and no outstanding return, unless SARS has agreed an arrangement for the return. SARS’s own checklist spells that out:
- no return outstanding after its due date;
- no tax debt without a payment arrangement;
- registered for every tax the business is liable for;
- registered details up to date;
- every tax number merged into one profile, or declared.
Some debt doesn’t count against you: tax being paid under an instalment agreement or a compromise, tax whose payment SARS has suspended or can’t collect while it considers a request to suspend it, and amounts under R100 or a higher figure SARS sets by notice. The status runs non-compliant from the day a requirement stops being met until the day it’s fixed. Three details catch businesses out. Administrative penalties show as a debt of their own. PAYE shows as three lines, PAYE, SDL and UIF, so unpaid UIF shows up there too. And a dormant company still has to file its returns until it is formally deregistered.
A newly registered business reads “Compliant (New Taxpayer)” until its first return or payment falls due, it files or pays, or a year passes from registration, whichever comes first.
Where do I see why my status is non-compliant?
In My Compliance Profile on eFiling. It shows each requirement (registration, returns and debt) in green or red, and opening a red one shows the cause, down to the return or the amount for each period, with the fix. A separate indicator flags smaller items that haven’t changed the overall status yet but still need fixing.
How do I fix a non-compliant tax status?
Fix the cause the profile names. SARS’s routes:
| Cause | Fix |
|---|---|
| An outstanding return | File it. Nothing else clears it. |
| Income tax, VAT or PAYE debt | Pay, ask for a payment arrangement, or use Fix my Account, all from the profile |
| Penalty, dividends tax or provisional tax debt | Pay it or arrange it through the usual channels; the profile’s buttons don’t cover it |
| A missing registration | Add VAT, PAYE or company income tax with the RAV01 on eFiling; a registration status change needs a branch |
| Out-of-date details | The RAV01 on eFiling; a name, registration number or entity type at a branch |
| A tax type missing from, or wrongly on, the profile | Merge it on eFiling; since 21 September 2026 a wrong merge can be undone on eFiling, or at a branch |
If you think the status is wrong after paying, filing and going through the usual routes, use Challenge Status on eFiling with your reasons. Where SARS agrees, it can apply an override for a limited time, during which anyone checking your PIN sees “Compliant”. A suspension of payment SARS has approved can still show as debt; challenge it with the approval as proof.
How long does it take to show compliant again?
In law, the non-compliance ends on the day you fix it. In practice SARS says a payment can take up to 72 hours to show on the profile, and it publishes no time for a filed return or an approved arrangement to clear. If a buyer is waiting, fix the cause first and request the status once the profile reads green. A buyer who checks an old PIN sees today’s status, so there is no need to send a new one unless the old one has expired.
Can I get a payment arrangement with SARS?
Yes. The Act lets SARS agree that a debt is paid in instalments, and a debt under such an agreement doesn’t make your status non-compliant. SARS’s conditions are strict:
- every return has to be filed first, and the arrangement has to cover the whole debt;
- interest keeps running, and SARS can decline;
- miss an instalment and the arrangement ends.
On eFiling a request covers one tax type, starts from a six-month plan you can change to anything from 1 to 36 months, and can’t be withdrawn once submitted. SARS may ask a company for bank statements, a cash-flow forecast and financial statements. If you dispute the debt itself rather than the timing, the route is a suspension of payment instead.
What does “non-compliant tax status” mean on the CSD?
The Central Supplier Database takes your tax status from SARS automatically, and you can’t edit it there. When it changes, the CSD emails you. Treasury’s 2026 pamphlet for suppliers shows the status as a colour: green for compliant (including a new taxpayer), red for non-compliant, amber for anything else. A red flag doesn’t stop you submitting a quotation on the CSD, but non-compliant suppliers aren’t awarded the work: a recommended bidder found non-compliant gets 7 working days to fix it before the bid is rejected. Fix it on the SARS side; the CSD follows. The tender documents guide covers the CSD and the other proofs a buyer asks for.
How Komply helps keep the status green
Komply can’t see your compliance profile, but it can keep the returns that drive it in front of you:
- List your returns. Add each VAT201, EMP201, EMP501, IRP6 and ITR14 and Komply fills in SARS’s due date. That’s on every plan.
- Watch the docket. Every open return is a line on your overview, “File the …”, with its due date; a late one says how many days late it is. On Pro and Enterprise each also carries its readiness score.
- Keep the PIN’s clock. In Tender Readiness, record the PIN and its expiry from your eFiling letter; 30 days before it expires, renewing it goes on the docket.
What Komply doesn’t do: it has no link to eFiling, so it can’t read your compliance profile, your debt or your PIN’s status, and it requests no PINs, payment arrangements or challenges. You mark a return filed yourself. The SARS guide covers each return and its due date, and the free compliance calendar lays them out for your year-end.
Frequently asked questions
Does a tax compliance status PIN cost anything?
No. SARS charges nothing for a TCS or a PIN.
How long is a tax compliance PIN valid?
As long as you chose when you requested it: 12 months by default, or 1 to 12 months. The status it shows is always the current one.
Does a dormant company need a compliant tax status?
It has to keep filing its returns until it is formally deregistered, or the outstanding returns turn its status non-compliant.
Why is my status non-compliant when I’ve paid?
A payment can take up to 72 hours to show. If it still shows after that, open My Compliance Profile: the cause may be another tax type, a penalty, an unfiled return or an unmerged tax number.