Do I have to file the outstanding return before requesting remission?

Yes. SARS considers a Request for Remission once the non-compliance has been remedied, which for a late-return penalty means the outstanding return has been submitted. Filing also stops the monthly penalty from recurring, so it is the right first move regardless.

How much is the SARS admin penalty?

It is a fixed monthly amount from R250 to R16,000 based on your taxable income, charged again for each month the return stays outstanding, up to a maximum of 35 months (up to 47 months where SARS has no last-known address for you).

What reasons work for an RFR1?

SARS wants a description of the circumstances that prevented you from complying on time. Give specific, dated facts rather than a general apology. There is no fixed list that guarantees success; SARS weighs the explanation and decides.

What can SARS decide on my request?

SARS can allow the request, partially allow it, or disallow it. If it is disallowed or only partly allowed and you disagree, you can lodge an objection against that decision.

Is an RFR1 the same as an objection?

No. The RFR1 is the first request asking SARS to remit the penalty. If SARS refuses or only partly agrees, the objection is the next step in the dispute process. If your penalty came from returns you never filed, start with our guide on whether you need to submit a tax return and read how to file outstanding tax returns first. For the wider picture of what SARS charges, see SARS penalties and interest explained, and if the RFR1 is refused, how to object to a SARS assessment.

- https://www.sars.gov.za/individuals/what-if-i-do-not-agree/admin-penalty/ - https://www.sars.gov.za/individuals/what-if-i-do-not-agree/request-for-remission-of-administrative-non-compliance-penalty/

Request for Remission of SARS Admin Penalties (RFR1)

A Request for Remission, submitted on the RFR1 form, asks SARS to cancel or reduce a fixed-amount administrative penalty charged for a late or outstanding return. SARS will only consider the request once you have remedied the non-compliance, which for a late return means the outstanding return has been submitted. You also have to describe the circumstances that stopped you from filing on time. You lodge it on eFiling, and SARS can allow, partially allow, or disallow it.

The penalty this deals with is the fixed-amount administrative non-compliance penalty under section 210 of the Tax Administration Act. It is charged monthly, based on your taxable income, and it recurs for every month a return stays outstanding, so leaving it alone makes it grow.

What the penalty is, before you dispute it

The fixed-amount penalty runs from R250 to R16,000 per month depending on your taxable income, and it is charged again for each month the return remains outstanding, up to a maximum of 35 months (or up to 47 months where SARS has no last-known address for you). It applies to a natural person with one or more income tax returns outstanding for years of assessment from 2007 onwards, and has been imposed on that basis since 1 December 2022.

Two things follow from how it is built:

Because it recurs monthly, the fastest way to stop it growing is to file the outstanding return. SARS itself says it is advisable to submit the outstanding return to stop further penalties.
The RFR1 is about whether the penalty already imposed should be remitted. It is a separate step from filing. Filing stops the meter; the RFR1 asks SARS to let go of what has already been charged.

When SARS will consider an RFR1

SARS considers a Request for Remission once the non-compliance in issue has been remedied. For an outstanding-return penalty, that means the return or returns that triggered it have been submitted. You then have to give SARS a description of the circumstances that prevented you from complying on time. A bare request with no explanation gives SARS nothing to weigh.

The request is made on eFiling, or at a SARS branch by appointment if you cannot use eFiling.

How to submit the RFR1

File any outstanding return first. Until the non-compliance is remedied, there is nothing for SARS to remit against.
Log in to eFiling and open the admin penalty area for income tax, where the penalty and its assessment (the penalty ITA34) are shown.
Start a Request for Remission (RFR1) against the penalty.
Set out the grounds: the specific circumstances that prevented timely compliance, with dates and any supporting facts. Be concrete rather than general.
Submit and wait for SARS to decide. Keep the case number.

What SARS can decide, and what comes next

SARS can allow the request in full, partially allow it, or disallow it. If the outcome is a disallowance or only a partial allowance and you disagree, you can take the matter further by lodging an objection against that decision. In other words, the RFR1 is the first line of dispute; the objection is the next.

A worked example

Suppose a taxpayer has one outstanding income tax return and SARS has been charging the fixed-amount penalty at R500 a month (the exact monthly figure depends on your taxable income and falls somewhere in the R250 to R16,000 range). The return went unfiled for six months before the taxpayer acted.

The penalty accrues one month at a time:

R500 × 6 = R3,000 charged so far

The taxpayer first submits the outstanding return, which stops any further R500 monthly charges from being added. They then lodge an RFR1 against the R3,000 already imposed, explaining, for example, that they were retrenched and out of the country during the filing window, with dates. SARS weighs that explanation and either remits the R3,000 in full, remits part of it (say it allows R2,000 and leaves R1,000 standing), or disallows the request and leaves the full R3,000 in place. If the taxpayer is unhappy with a partial or full disallowance, the next step is an objection.