Top Tip: SARS has received representations from various tax practitioner organisations requesting an extension on the date for the discontinuing the debit pull option as a means of paying SARS.

We can now announce that an extension of a month has been granted and that debit pull transactions will be discontinued at the end of October 2013.

As of the end of October 2013 Debit Pull transactions will be discontinued for ABSA, FNB, Investec, Nedbank and Standard Bank. Taxpayers are advised to set-up a Credit Push payment option or use one of our alternative methods of payment.

Why is SARS discontinuing the use of a Debit Pull transaction on eFiling?

With debit pull a taxpayer or their approved representative may authorise SARS to collect the money owed directly from their bank on their behalf, which means that SARS is initiating the collection directly from their bank. SARS does so by instructing the bank to collect the amount from the taxpayer’s bank account. There are several problems associated with this:

There are risks associated with this product in that payment is not guaranteed and can be reversed at the request of the client and can also be rejected due to insufficient funds

SARS is unable to validate that the person authorising SARS to initiate the debit pull is mandated to do so which can result in payments being withdrawn from incorrect accounts. SARS could be placed at risk as a result of such unauthorised actions.

Very importantly it is in the interest of the client to not allow unauthorised withdrawals from their accounts.

It should be noted that the debit pull option is still available for certain payments until the end of October 2013, on condition that the approved representative agrees to the declaration which appears on the screen.

Source Reference:
www.sars.gov.za

This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your financial adviser for specific and detailed advice.

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