How TaxTim Works

TaxTim takes the hardest part of tax, which is knowing what to do next, off your plate. You answer simple questions in plain language, and TaxTim turns your answers into a complete, accurate return, prompts you for every deduction you're entitled to, handles the calculations, and files it with SARS for you. TimAI is on hand around the clock and our tax experts are there whenever you want a human. All for a fraction of what a practitioner charges, on your own schedule.

TimAI is our AI tax assistant and is free, available any time, and able to answer most tax questions with full context on your return and tax situation. The help desk is our human tax team, for things that need a person: checking your eFiling profile, pulling SARS documents, and handling additional services like reviews, calculations and disputes. We recommend you start with TimAI. It'll flag when a human needs to step in and handover the full background.

We aim to respond within 24 hours. During peak filing season this can stretch to 72 hours as volumes climb which is still faster than most formal tax practitioners during the busy season. And while you wait, TimAI is available around the clock to answer your tax questions with full context on your return, so you're rarely stuck.tax practitioners help South Africans with their returns.

There's no prize for filing first - but there's a real cost to filing wrong. The smart move is to file once, and file right - when you're ready and have all your documents set. Early in tax season we typically see a higher incidence of e-filing system downtime and glitches as which may impact the filing experience. Tax season is open for a full three months, so there's no need to rush. Give your tax certificates time to come in, check your information is complete, and you'll have a smoother experience with fewer surprises.

A practitioner does your tax for you, on their schedule and at their price. TaxTim turns the same job into a simple set of questions and we handle the forms and calculations behind the scenes. Anyone can file their own return with confidence, without hunting for a practitioner, booking an appointment, or waiting on a callback.

With TimAi and our human helpdesk, you get the same peace of mind as having a professional in your corner, at a fraction of the cost, on your own timeline.

No, and for good reason. We don't phone SARS or visit a SARS branch for you, and some actions, like identity or biometric verification, can only be done by you in person. That's a SARS requirement to protect your identity, so there's no workaround, it has to be you.

What we can do is guide you through it. We'll explain exactly what SARS needs and the steps to resolve it, so even the parts only you can handle are clear and manageable.

Not at all, that's the whole idea. TaxTim asks simple, plain-language questions about your year, you answer them, and we handle the forms, calculations and jargon behind the scenes. If you can answer questions about your job, your medical aid, your investments or your home, you can file your return.

Once you've answered the questions and reviewed everything, TaxTim submits your return to SARS for you so you don't have to wrestle with eFiling yourself. You stay in control and approve it before anything is sent

Worth a check. An auto-assessment only uses the data SARS already has, which can miss deductions you're entitled to (e.g. medical, retirement, home office) that could grow your refund or reduce what you owe. TaxTim helps you see whether accepting it is really in your best interest before you do.

Linking connects TaxTim to your SARS eFiling profile so we can do the filing work for you like pulling the information SARS already has, assessments and correspondence, and submitting your return directly, without you having to copy details back and forth or log in to eFiling separately.

Why is this needed?

Your tax return lives on SARS eFiling, so to prepare and file it properly, TaxTim needs to connect to your profile. Without the link we can still guide you, but we can't pull your SARS data or file on your behalf, you'd have to do those steps yourself.

Can I get it back?

Yes. Your eFiling profile is tied to your identity and always belongs to you. Connecting it to TaxTim doesn't change that. Whenever you choose, you can take back access or move it to another provider. It's your account; we're only connected to it to help you file.

When you link your eFiling profile, TaxTim imports the third-party data SARS holds against your tax number — your IRP5, medical aid contributions, retirement annuity, and bank interest.

But there are a few reasons this data may be incomplete or missing entirely. Third parties like your employer, bank and medical scheme submit this information to SARS before tax season opens — so if you link early, it may not be there yet. Occasionally some submissions arrive a little late, even into the early days of season. The data is typically matched to your tax number, so if an institution doesn't have your tax number on record, your certificate may not appear and that information needs to be entered by you manually.

Before you file, it's worth doing a quick sense-check against your own records. Go through all your bank and investment accounts and make sure any interest earned is reflected. Check that investment and unit trust transactions are accounted for. When in doubt, reach out to our helpdesk to check.