Selected for SARS verification: what the letter asks for, the deadline, and what to send

A SARS verification letter asks you to back up a return you’ve filed: it names the documents SARS wants and the date they’re due, and if nothing arrives SARS issues a revised assessment on the information it already has. It is a check of what you declared against your records and third-party data, not a full audit, though it can be referred to one.

This guide covers a business’s side of it, for VAT, PAYE and company income tax, from SARS’s own guidance and the Tax Administration Act.

What is a SARS verification, and is it an audit?

No. SARS treats selection for verification and selection for audit as separate processes. Verification checks a return at face value against third-party data, your financial records and supporting documents; an audit examines the books in depth. SARS can select any taxpayer, on a risk assessment or at random, and a VAT verification usually covers a single period. The Act’s duty to tell you when an audit starts and to report on its progress applies to audits, not to a verification. A verification can still end in a referral for audit.

What does a SARS verification letter ask for?

It depends on the tax. The Act says SARS has to describe what it wants with reasonable specificity, and the letter gives a due date and asks for either the listed documents or a corrected return.

• Company income tax. Since September 2022 the letter names specific documents linked to the reason for the check. SARS’s notice of that change says a company verification always needs the signed annual financial statements, a detailed tax computation and the supporting schedules.
• VAT. The documents behind the input tax you claimed and the output tax you declared. Upload them only when a letter asks.
• PAYE. The letters arrive on eFiling under SARS Correspondence, as a requirement to submit supporting documents or a final demand. An EMP501 that differs materially from the EMP201s you declared can bring a separate notice of its own.

If the letter shows you made a mistake, you can correct the return instead, but SARS allows only one correction during a verification, and the option closes once you’ve sent the documents.

How long do I have to respond?

Until the due date on the letter; SARS’s 2022 notice for company verifications gave 21 working days. If you can’t make it, ask before the date passes: the Act lets SARS extend the period if you give reasonable grounds.

How do I send SARS the documents?

Three channels, with limits worth knowing before you start:

On eFiling the upload link closes once you click submit, so send everything at once. SARS’s upload guide also warns that password-protected bank statements won’t upload, that a spreadsheet must sit on one sheet, and that scans should be black and white at 300dpi or less. On the Online Query System or at a branch, include the letter: its barcode links the documents to your record. PAYE documents go through PAYE Maintenance on eFiling, against the letter; SARS’s own page calls these PAYE audit letters.

How long does a SARS verification take?

SARS says it will try to finish within 21 business days of your upload. Its service charter commits to concluding 8 in 10 verifications of self-assessment returns, such as VAT and PAYE, within 21 business days of complete, correct documents, with more time for complex cases and 90 business days where several years are involved. It can ask for more along the way, and its company tax guide warns that some verifications take up to 12 months. For a company return, eFiling shows the case in amber while it’s in progress and in green once it’s finalised with no adjustments; for VAT, “Submitted” means SARS has your documents, and a refund appears on the Refund Dashboard.

What happens if I don’t respond?

SARS sends a second letter, then issues a revised assessment based on what it already has. For a company that usually means the expenses it couldn’t verify are added back. Once SARS has estimated an assessment after unanswered requests, you have 40 business days to send the material and ask for a reduced assessment, and you can object only after SARS refuses. Understatement penalties can follow a finding. Since April 2026 the Act says expressly that you can ask SARS to suspend payment while it considers a request for a reduced assessment.

Why is my VAT refund held?

SARS has to pay a VAT refund within 21 business days of a correct return, or pay interest, but the Act lets it hold the refund until a verification is finalised unless you give it acceptable security. SARS’s VAT FAQ counts the 21 days from the correct return or from all the documents it asked for. A refund is also set off against any tax you owe.

What if SARS takes too long?

Get a case number first, then complain to the SARS Complaints Management Office (0800 12 12 16), which gives itself 21 business days. If that doesn’t resolve it, the Tax Ombud can step in; it aims to resolve a complaint within 15 business days of accepting it, but its recommendations don’t bind SARS. A disagreement with the assessment itself isn’t a complaint: that goes through an objection.

How Komply tracks a verification

On Pro and Enterprise, a verification is recorded against the return SARS is checking:

1. Record the letter. Whether it’s a verification, an audit or a second request, the date it arrived, the due date on the letter and the categories of document SARS asked for, such as sales or purchase invoices, bank statements or the trial balance.
2. Watch the countdown. Komply counts the business days to the due date, public holidays included, and emails everyone in the workspace at 14, 7, 3 and 1 business days before it and on the day.
3. Gather the response. A cover sheet PDF lists what SARS asked for. For a VAT201 synced from Xero, Komply also builds an evidence pack from the files attached to the period’s invoices and bills in Xero, split to fit eFiling’s upload limits, and says which documents have nothing attached.
4. Record the outcome. Accepted, a further query (which starts a new countdown from its own letter), or an assessment raised. A refund Komply is tracking pauses while the verification is open and restarts when you respond.

What Komply doesn’t do: it has no link to eFiling, so it doesn’t receive the letter, upload anything or see SARS’s decision; it doesn’t open or check the files in the evidence pack; and it can’t tell you what SARS will find. The SARS guide covers the returns a verification checks, and the SARS module page lists what each plan includes.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a SARS verification take?

SARS says it will try to finish within 21 business days of your upload, but it can ask for more, and some company verifications take up to 12 months.

Can I ask SARS for more time?

Yes, before the due date, with reasonable grounds. The Act lets SARS extend the period.

Is a verification the same as an audit?

No. A verification checks a return at face value against documents and third-party data; an audit examines the books in depth. A verification can be referred to audit.

What if I miss the deadline?

SARS sends a second letter, then raises a revised assessment on what it has. You then have 40 business days to send the documents and ask for a reduced assessment.