The South African Revenue Service (Sars) will officially end its remote work policy at the start of next year, with all employees expected to return to the office full-time from 1 January.
The decision, confirmed by Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter and reported by BusinessTech, has been welcomed by tax experts and many taxpayers, who say in-person service is essential for resolving complex issues.
Several Sars employees, speaking anonymously, acknowledged that remote work often made it difficult to assist clients effectively, especially when limited to phone communication.
Sars ends remote work from January
Independent tax specialist Sesethu Cekeshe said taxpayers have the right to choose their preferred service channel, including branch visits and should never be forced to rely solely on telephonic support.
“Taxpayers have the right to choose their preferred channel for Sars services, including branch visits,” she said.
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“Some delays may occur if appointments are not booked, but access to branch services remains a taxpayer right and booking appointments online to visit a branch helps.”
Cekeshe said she was aware of taxpayers experiencing delays if they had not booked appointments because of long queues, “but being turned away is wrong”.
Kieswetter issued instructions last year for all staff, especially service consultants, to return to the office because they are client-facing.
Client-facing services
“They should have already returned to the office. While remote work allowed Sars to maintain continuity during the lockdown, certain processes were slower due to remote coordination and this frustrated taxpayers because they experienced longer response times,” Cekeshe said.
She said from an operational perspective, client-facing staff should always be in the office to assist taxpayers directly, especially during peak filing season.
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Cekeshe said she was approached by clients who were struggling to file their returns, but said as a tax practitioner, she did not experience difficulties, except during system upgrades.
“I encourage taxpayers to lodge complaints through Sars service channels whenever they encounter service issues,” she said.
“If no response is received within 21 days, taxpayers can escalate the matter to the tax ombud who plays a crucial role in holding Sars accountable and protecting taxpayers’ rights.”
News of staff returning welcomed
A taxpayer who has been struggling to file his returns and also failing to pay Sars the money that he owed, has welcomed the news of staff returning to the office.
“I was one of those taxpayers who used to praise the entity for being the most efficient department on client service. In the past, you would be out of the premises within an hour in the past,” he said.
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“They were efficient before they introduced the remote work system for their staff. I wanted to pay my debt and made arrangements in 2023, and that was a smooth process.
“I continued paying my debt for a year until another official from the East London office called in 2024 to say the amount I was paying was not enough. I thought that would be easy as it required an adjustment of the amount to be paid.
“But I was wrong and that was the start of my frustration. I had to make booking after booking to arrange payment via their e-filing system. Meanwhile, the debt has increased by more than R10 000.”
Online system is bad – taxpayer
The taxpayer believes he would have finished paying his debt if the official had not interrupted the payment arrangement, or “if she had gave me feedback about the status of my application to increase the instalment. That’s how bad their online system is”.
The entire system of online booking for an appointment to arrange payment was a farce as it delayed taxpayers “because it was repetitive”, he said.
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Sars spokesperson Siphithi Sibeko had not responded by the time of publication.
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