What to do if SARS penalises me?

I was working freelance for 2 companies. My salary was plus minus R15,000 a year. SARS penalised me because I don't fill in forms. They say I owe R10,500. I don't have that money - what can I do?

You only earned R15,000 for those two years, what did SARS say the amount you owe them is for? Can we have your SARS eFiling login details.

They say I dont fill in tax forms. They say R10,500 for penalties.

I'm not registered on e filing.

So what is the total that you earned for each year?

It was R15,000 for 2007 and 2008. They say because I was working for 2 companies and don't fil in forms - that's why they gave me penalties of R10,500. What can I do, I dont have that money.

You need to go to them and say that you cannot afford to pay that, that you earned less than the tax thresholds those years and therefore understood that you did not need to file a tax return as per their own requirements and that they cannot penalise you such a high amount when you didn't pay tax in the first place. Then you would need to lodge a complaint with the tax ombudsman as well stating SARS are trying to make you pay more than any actual tax debt owed.

They told me I must pay because I don't tell them I work for two companies. They want my IRP5.

I can't find IRP5 for 2007.

Then you must either ask your old company for a copy of your IRP5 otherwise you can go to your police station and swear an affidavit stating what you earned and that you cannot locate the IRP5 because it has been over 5 years. You can then submit this to SARS.

What happens if you have penalties - can they force me to pay?

You have to speak with them and get them to reverse the payments.