Failure to file tax returns with SARS (South African Revenue Service) results in administrative penalties ranging from R250 to R16,000 per month, depending on taxable income. These penalties can recur monthly for up to 35 months. Additionally, SARS may charge interest, impose underestimation penalties for provisional tax, or, in severe cases, pursue legal action.
SARS levies various fixed-amount penalties, calculated on a sliding scale based on your taxable income, for different non-compliance issues, including late or missing returns. These can range from R250 to R16,000 a month. Penalties on an outstanding return recur every month, up to a maximum of 35 months.
If penalties and interest aren't motivating enough and you outright refuse to file taxes, the IRS can enforce tax liens against your property or even pursue civil or criminal litigation against you until you pay. The severity of your refusal will determine the path the IRS will take.
Failing to file your tax returns by the SARS deadline triggers a monthly penalty, which continues to accrue until you submit your return or until the penalty reaches the maximum duration of 35 months. They base the penalty amount on your income bracket and ranges from R250 to R16,000 per month.
Penalty - 20% of tax involved is charged. Offence - Failure to file annual returns by the due date. Penalty - Additional tax equal to 5% of the normal tax, or Ksh. 10,000 in for Non-Individual Taxpayers.
You may miss out on tax refunds and deductions, increasing your financial burden. Delayed filing can result in additional interest charges, impacting your budget. Not filing taxes affects your loan eligibility and visa applications. Persistent non-compliance can lead to imprisonment under Section 276CC.
Single filing status. don't have any special circumstances that require you to file (like self-employment income) earn less than $15,750 (which is the 2025 Standard Deduction for a taxpayer filing as Single)
How long the records must be kept? Five years: counting from the date of submission of a return until the last day of the period. A person required to submit a return but has not complied. Five years: After the end of the five years period, indefinitely until the return is submitted.
When you don't submit your return by the due date, SARS automatically flags your profile as non-compliant. This means: Monthly penalties start accumulating until you submit. Interest charges may apply if you owe tax.
There's no official limit to how many years you can go without filing taxes, but the IRS expects you to file if required, and the statute of limitations on the IRS assessing tax or collecting never starts until you actually file, meaning they can pursue unfiled returns from any year, even decades old. While the IRS often focuses on the last six years, waiting increases penalties and interest, and you risk losing any potential refunds after three years; proactively filing past-due returns is always best.
You can avoid a penalty by filing accurate returns, paying your tax by the due date, and furnishing any information returns timely.
Put simply, this means the federal tax fraud statute of limitations is three years past your filing date. However, if the IRS discovers that over a quarter of your income was omitted on your tax return, the statute of limitations doubles. In other words, the agency has six years to file charges against you.
Failing to file taxes for 10 years can have severe financial and legal consequences. The IRS imposes penalties for not filing individual income tax returns, and interest accrues on any unpaid taxes, resulting in a larger tax liability over time.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) imposes steep penalties for unpaid tax debt — including a 10% late-payment penalty, ongoing monthly administrative penalties, and understatement penalties of between 10% and 200% of any shortfall.
The penalty is levied on the amount of the shortfall to the fiscus. Described in broad terms, this is calculated as the difference between the tax that is properly chargeable and the amount that would have been charged had the taxpayer's declaration been accepted.
Failure-to-file penalties
If you're hit with an IRS penalty for filing your tax return late, the IRS can waive the penalty if you have a good reason for not fulfilling your filing obligations. Examples of sufficient reasons for failing to file on time include: serious illness impacting your ability to file.
You might have to pay IRS penalties and interest if you file your federal income tax return after the April deadline, your due date isn't extended, and you end up with a tax bill. First, the IRS charges a 5% penalty per month on any tax due if your return is filed late. The penalty is capped at 25% of the tax owed.
How far back can SARS audit your taxes in South Africa? SARS can typically audit up to 5 years back from the date of assessment. However, if there is fraud, misrepresentation, or non-disclosure, SARS can go back indefinitely, with no time limit.
There is no hard limit on how many years you can file back taxes. However, to be in “good standing” with the IRS, you should have filed tax returns for the last six years. If you're due a refund or tax credits, you must file the return within three years of the original due date to claim it.
Even if you're working in a foreign country to which you're emigrating, your South African tax status doesn't change automatically – you are considered ordinarily resident in SA (and thus liable for South African taxes) until you complete the SARS procedure to cease being a South African tax resident.
The IRS will not charge you an underpayment penalty if: