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eFiling was introduced a few years ago to make submissions easier, more efficient and less prone to errors.

As an eFiler, you have access to your tax information 24 hours a day, you have more time to make your submissions and payments, there are SMS and e-mail notifications to remind you when submissions are due and there is even a link that can import important due dates into your Outlook calendar (available under the "Forms and Guides" section of www.sarsefiling.co.za).

The first step to becoming an eFiler is registration. This can be done online by clicking on "Register" at www.sarsefiling.co.za and following the prompts.

You will be issued a login and password, which will allow you to log into your eFiling account.

Once logged on, you should find an individual income tax return (ITR12) for you to view. If it is not available, you should call the SARS contact centre on 080000SARS (7277) to resolve the problem.

When you open your ITR12, you will be asked a number of questions. It is vital that you answer these questions correctly because the answers will tailor the rest of your tax return based on your circumstances.

• The first question asks if you were unemployed and received no income during the year. Assuming that you have earned some income during the year, the next question relates to the number of IRP5s or IT3(a) certificates relating to income that you have received. SARS now fills in the section relating to this type of income from information it receives directly from your employer. Check this information for accuracy against your certificate received from the company;
• Other questions relate to deductions such as medical expenditure, contributions to retirement annuities and travel allowances. They also ask about other income such as payment for foreign services and local and foreign interest and dividends, as well as capital gains and losses for the year. Obviously, if you do not tick the box here, your individualised ITR12 will not provide space for you to include such detail in the return;
• The question relating to being a director of a company or member of a close corporation can determine whether a statement of assets and liabilities is required to be submitted as part of your return;
• Rental income from property, for example, needs to be declared as part of your local business, trade and professional income. Having ticked the box, the return will reflect all the necessary line items to take account of your rental income for the year, as well as space to account for the relevant deductible expenses. The source code for this item can be found in the Source Codes 2011 booklet, which is available on the site on the "Forms and Guides" page;
• Other questions revolve around whether you have been involved in farming operations, in which case specific line items would be added to your return; and
• Residency details are also prompted, depending on your answers to the foreign-income questions.
• Here is a checklist of some of the most common information required to complete your return:
• Bank account details - used to verify the account that SARS has on record. This is important to ensure that any refunds due are paid without unnecessary hassle;
• IRP5/IT3(a) certificates from employers reflecting income earned during the year;
• Certificates relating to investment income, IT3(b), and details of interest earned during the year;
• Medical expense details: medical aid certificates, as well as details of expenses not covered by the scheme;
• Certificates relating to the following deductions: retirement annuity contributions; deductible income protection premiums; donations to approved public benefit organisations;
• Details of business travel (if you received a travel allowance). There is an online logbook available on the eFiling website under "Forms and Guides". This link also includes a good explanation of the travel deduction. The electronic logbook can be downloaded and managed locally on your computer so that you do not need internet access each time you want to update it; and
• Capital gains tax (CGT) information: a certificate from the administrator reflecting proceeds, base cost and gain or loss relating to redemptions of unit trusts and/or shares during the year;

If you have sold a property, you will need records of base cost, proceeds and costs. If the sale was your primary residence, remember to tick the primary residence box and fill in the "primary residence and other exclusions" field. This would generally apply to the R1.5-million primary residence exclusion, but note that any primary residence where proceeds do not exceed R2-million is excluded from CGT. The R20000 annual CGT exclusion does not need to be filled in, as this automatically forms part of the tax calculation;

• Donations up to R100000 per annum made by a natural person are exempt from donations tax. This is referred to as code 4048 on your tax return and should not be confused with the income tax deduction (code 4011) that is allowed of up to 10% of taxable income before the deduction of donations and medical expenses, for which you will need a tax certificate from the PBO in terms of section 18A; and
• Financial statements or schedules reflecting any other business income (such as income from a rental property) and related deductible expenses. Again, get the correct source code from the source codes booklet.

If you cannot complete the return in one sitting, you can save the return online at any time and return to it when you have time or have gathered any missing information. Once you have completed your tax return, you can use the tax calculator, which allows you to view your tax computation details and check that it accurately reflects the information relating to your income and expenses for the year. There is a link under the "Forms and Guides" section reflecting the tax tables and rebates that may be useful in this regard.

Many happy returns with eFiling

If you  are happy with your return and wish to file it, hit the "file return" button.

SARS will then assess the return and, assuming there are no queries, provide you with a tax assessment for the year.

While you do not need to submit any documentation with your return, SARS may ask you to upload documents onto the eFiling system. This is an easy process, assuming you have access to a scanner, and is a simple upload through your eFiling account. You have to keep supporting documentation for five years in case SARS queries any information on your return. If you are owed money by SARS, payment is usually made into your bank account within a couple of days.

If you become aware of any issues relating to your return subsequent to submitting it (for example, if you forgot to claim a deduction for which you were entitled), you can view the submitted return under "returns history" and click on "request correction", allowing you to make the necessary changes and resubmit it for a corrected assessment.

If you have any problems, you can contact the SARS contact centre on 0800007277 (have your tax number available) or visit a SARS branch with your ID , bank details and all the necessary documents.

This year's important tax deadlines:

• If you are not a provisional taxpayer and complete your tax return manually and post it or put it in a SARS drop box, your deadline is September 30.
• If you are not a provisional taxpayer and use eFiling, the deadline is November 25.
• The deadline for provisional taxpayers using eFiling is January 31 2012.