How far back can SARS audit you?

SARS can generally reopen and revise an income-tax assessment for up to three years from the date of that assessment, and a self-assessed tax (like VAT) for up to five years. After that the assessment "prescribes", meaning it becomes final and SARS can no longer adjust it. The important exception is that this time bar falls away entirely where the understatement was due to fraud, misrepresentation, or non-disclosure of material facts. In those cases there is no limit on how far back SARS can go.

Separately, you must keep your supporting records for five years from the date you submit the return, because that is the period over which SARS can ask you to back up what you declared.

The prescription periods

"Prescription" is the legal cut-off after which an assessment is settled. Under section 99 of the Tax Administration Act:

Situation	When the assessment becomes final
Ordinary income-tax assessment by SARS	3 years from the date of the original assessment
Self-assessment (for example VAT)	5 years from the date of assessment
Fraud, misrepresentation or non-disclosure of material facts	No time limit

So for a normal salaried taxpayer, once three years have passed from the date of your assessment, SARS cannot ordinarily revisit that year. The clock runs from the date of the assessment, not the date you filed or the end of the tax year.

When the three years does not protect you

The time bar assumes you played open cards. It does not apply where the reason the full tax was not assessed is fraud, a misrepresentation, or a failure to disclose material facts. If you left income off your return, that is non-disclosure, and SARS can reopen the year however old it is. The protection of prescription is for honest, complete returns, not for omissions.

SARS also has limited powers to extend the three-year period in specific cases, for example by agreement with you, or by giving notice where an audit involves genuinely complex matters. For most individuals, though, the practical rule is simple: complete returns are safe after three years; incomplete ones are not safe at all.

The five-year record-keeping rule

Section 29 of the Tax Administration Act requires you to keep the records that support your return for five years from the date the return was submitted. That covers your IRP5, IT3 certificates, medical and retirement-annuity certificates, logbooks, invoices and bank statements. If SARS verifies or audits a year, these are what you produce.

Two points matter. The five years runs from submission, so a return filed late starts its own five-year clock late. And if SARS has notified you of an audit or a dispute, you keep the relevant records until that is finished, even beyond five years.

A worked example

Take the 2026 year of assessment. You are assessed on a taxable income of R450,000. A year later SARS audits the year and finds R100,000 of income you did not declare, lifting your taxable income to R550,000. Because the omission is non-disclosure, the three-year bar does not protect you, and the extra tax is the difference between the two figures.

Tax on R450,000 (bracket from R370,501 to R512,800), R77,362 plus 31% above R370,500:

• R450,000 less R370,500 = R79,500
• 31% of R79,500 = R24,645
• R77,362 + R24,645 = R102,007
• Less the primary rebate of R17,235 = R84,772

Tax on R550,000 (bracket from R512,801 to R673,000), R121,475 plus 36% above R512,800:

• R550,000 less R512,800 = R37,200
• 36% of R37,200 = R13,392
• R121,475 + R13,392 = R134,867
• Less the primary rebate of R17,235 = R117,632

The additional tax is R117,632 less R84,772, which is R32,860, and that is before any interest and penalties on the shortfall. Had the same R100,000 simply been an honest dispute over a deduction on a complete return, the three-year prescription would eventually have closed the year. Because it was undeclared income, no time limit applies.

Keep the years behind you clean

The simplest protection is a complete return and the records to back it. Our guide on whether you need to submit a return sets out your filing duty, and the Basic income tax and PAYE calculator lets you check that an assessment matches what you actually earned. If you have a year that was not complete, read about the SARS Voluntary Disclosure Programme for the way to regularise it, and understanding your ITA34 for reading the assessment SARS issues.

SARS sources:

• https://www.sars.gov.za/client-segments/record-keeping/
• https://www.sars.gov.za/faq/faq-for-how-long-am-i-expected-to-keep-the-supporting-documents/
• https://www.sars.gov.za/tax-rates/income-tax/rates-of-tax-for-individuals/