E-filing on debt pull transactions will be eliminated from September 4. The SARS disclosed that the procedure will take place over one month after an alert message will appear on e-filing, where a debt pulls transactions is no longer available. Taxpayers are encouraged to exercise either credit push transactions or use one of SARS’s alternative methods of payment.
Debit pull refers to transactions where the payer has requested SARS to collect on their behalf at a specified date. This payment mechanism involves the initiation of a payment instruction from SARS’s bank to the client’s bank. The debit pull mechanism may be reversed due to insufficient funds once the request is processed by the bank.
A credit push transaction refers to a payment transaction that is initiated on e-Filing and presented to the client’s bank through a banking product as a payment request awaiting authorization. The taxpayer is required to log into the banking product (for example, internet banking) and authorize the payment request to finalize the transaction. Credit push transactions are irrevocable once approved.
Alternative methods of payment are also available, and include over the counter payments at a bank, electronic funds transfers using internet banking, and payment at a specific SARS branch (including customs).
