SARS Auto-Assessed You? For Locums, That Could Be an Expensive “Yes”
It’s tax season, and SARS has probably already sent you an auto-assessment. One tap and it’s done, right?
Not if you’re a locum.
Why Auto-Assessments Get Locums Wrong
SARS builds your auto-assessment from third-party data — IRP5s, medical aid certificates, retirement fund reports. That works fine for a salaried employee with one employer.
It doesn’t work for you.
Locums typically have:
- Income from multiple hospitals, practices, or agencies — sometimes with no IRP5 at all if you invoice directly
- Deductible expenses SARS never sees: HPCSA fees, indemnity insurance, CPD costs, travel between sites, locum agency commissions
- A mix of employment and independent contractor income in the same tax year
- Provisional tax obligations if a chunk of your income isn’t taxed at source
None of that lands in SARS’s system automatically. So the auto-assessment either understates what you actually owe (setting you up for penalties and interest later) or overstates it by missing deductions you’re entitled to — meaning you pay more than you should.
Accepting It Isn’t “Doing Nothing”
Many locums assume ignoring the SMS or accepting the auto-assessment is the safe, easy option. It isn’t. Once accepted, it’s treated as your return. Missed deductions are money left on the table. Missed income is a future SARS query with your name on it.
What We’d Actually Check For You
At Fullserve Chartered Accountants & tax practitioners Inc, we work with medical professionals specifically, and locums have their own checklist:
- Cross-check every source of locum income against what SARS has on file
- Claim the professional expenses SARS’ auto-assessment always misses
- Confirm whether you should be registered and paying provisional tax
- Flag audit-risk red flags before SARS does
Don’t Just Click Accept
A five-minute review could be the difference between a refund and a penalty. Before the auto-assessment deadline passes, let us take a look.
Book a locum tax review with Fullserve CA&TP Inc → info@fullserv.co.za or send us a WhatsApp on 077 260 1004