Trust filing season opens on 19 September, and trusts have until 22 January 2027 to submit their Income Tax Returns for Trusts, or ITR12Ts.
The South African Revenue Service said in a media release issued on 7 September that trusts required to submit an IT3(t) third-party data return must do so by 30 September 2026.
All resident trusts must submit an ITR12T. The obligation also applies to non-resident trusts that meet the filing criteria in the annual public notice, including those that carried on a trade through a permanent establishment in South Africa, derived income from a South African source, or realised a relevant capital gain or loss.
SARS said it will pay particular attention this filing season to nil returns and assessed-loss positions. It warned that holding passive or “dormant” assets does not relieve a trust of the obligation to disclose its assets, liabilities, income, expenditure, and other relevant financial information.
The revenue service is also introducing an enhanced ITR12T that will pre-populate income, vested amounts, certain expenses, and beneficiary schedules using information from the IT3(t). Trustees remain responsible for checking that this information is complete and accurate.
Registration deadline is 21 business days
SARS said in its media release that registration for income tax is a prerequisite for filing. Trusts may register through the SARS Online Query System or at a SARS branch after making an appointment.
The release stated that a trust must register for income tax within 21 days of registering with the Master of the High Court. In response to Moonstone, SARS confirmed that the prescribed period is 21 business days, rather than 21 ordinary days.
Section 22 of the Tax Administration Act requires a person to apply for registration within 21 business days after becoming obliged to register, where another tax Act does not prescribe a different period.
Trustees should ensure that qualifying trusts are registered with SARS and have an income tax reference number before filing. SARS said in its media release that it is identifying trusts that should be registered and taking steps to bring qualifying trusts into the tax net.
Who must file an IT3(t), including R0 returns
The IT3(t) third-party data return provides SARS with prescribed information about trust financial flows, including amounts vested in beneficiaries. The information is used to pre-populate beneficiaries’ tax returns and, from this filing season, parts of the trust’s ITR12T.
In response to Moonstone, SARS said the IT3(t) filing obligation applies to resident trusts and non-resident trusts required to submit annual income tax returns.
The following are excluded:
- a collective investment scheme as defined in the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act;
- a portfolio of a collective investment scheme;
- a portfolio of a hedge fund collective investment scheme; and
- an employment share incentive scheme trust.
A trust that falls within the filing requirement must still submit an IT3(t) if it has no reportable financial information for the reporting period.
SARS told Moonstone that the Trust Financial Flow section and other mandatory financial fields must contain R0 values in such cases. The absence of vestings or distributions therefore does not, by itself, remove the obligation to submit the return.
According to previously published SARS guidance, administrative non-compliance penalties have applied to outstanding ITR12Ts from the 2024 year of assessment onwards since May 2026 and may recur while the non-compliance continues.
SARS confirmed to Moonstone that these penalties do not currently apply to the late or non-submission of an IT3(t), although it may consider introducing IT3(t) penalties later.
How pre-populated information can be corrected
SARS said in its media release that the enhanced ITR12T will use information from the IT3(t) to pre-populate income, vested amounts, certain expenses, and beneficiary schedules.
According to its response to Moonstone, the revised return and updated external guide will be publicly available on 18 September, the day before filing season opens.
Trustees and their representatives will be able to amend information on the ITR12T if the pre-populated details are incomplete or incorrect.
If incorrect information submitted on the IT3(t) is carried across to the ITR12T, the taxpayer or representative must correct both returns. SARS said the ITR12T may be submitted before the corresponding correction to the IT3(t) has been completed.
The ITR12T may still be submitted if the IT3(t):
- has not been submitted;
- was submitted late; or
- requires correction.
SARS told Moonstone that, in these circumstances, the trustee or representative taxpayer should complete the relevant sections of the ITR12T manually and select “No” in response to the question asking whether the trust submitted an IT3(t).
A discrepancy between the two returns may require further review and could result in verification or an audit. Trustees and their representatives must therefore check the information in both returns for accuracy and completeness.
Roxshanna du Toit, head of trusts at Tax Consulting SA, said using IT3(t) information to pre-populate the ITR12T brings the two reporting processes closer together. Information reported during the IT3(t) cycle can become the starting point for completing the trust’s income tax return.
This strengthens SARS’s ability to compare the information reported by the trust with beneficiary information and the underlying data available to it, she said. Trustees and their advisers should therefore treat the accounting information, trustee resolutions, IT3(t), and ITR12T as parts of the same reporting chain.
Amounts vested in beneficiaries should be supported by the trust’s accounting information and the appropriate trustee resolutions, while the tax treatment reflected in the ITR12T should be consistent with the IT3(t). Where these do not align, discrepancies may be easier for SARS to identify.
Passive trusts must make full disclosure
SARS said it will prioritise disparities involving nil returns and assessed-loss positions, warning against the misconception that a passive trust can submit a nil return because it is not actively producing income.
The revenue service said in its media release that passive or “dormant” assets, along with their associated income and expenditure, must be disclosed. It cited a holiday home or other immovable property as an example: the trust must disclose both the property and expenditure on its upkeep, even where it produces no income.
Any nil return or assessed-loss position must therefore reflect the trust’s complete financial position and be supported by its underlying circumstances and documentation.
A nil ITR12T is distinct from an R0 IT3(t), which indicates that there was no reportable third-party financial information.
Trust losses cannot simply flow to beneficiaries
Du Toit said the 2026 ITR12T will also introduce new containers aimed at determining and analysing the effect of sections 25B(4) to (6) of the Income Tax Act.
These provisions apply where expenses or deductions relating to trust income exceed the income available. Du Toit said a trust cannot simply pass the resulting tax loss on to a beneficiary.
Read together with SARS’s increased use of IT3(t) information, the new containers point to closer scrutiny of amounts flowing through trusts to beneficiaries and the tax treatment applied to those amounts, she said.
Branch filing depends on trust participants
SARS’s media release said a trust with 10 or fewer beneficiaries may have its ITR12T captured at a SARS branch. However, the revenue service clarified to Moonstone that eligibility is based on the number of trust participants, not beneficiaries alone.
A trust with 10 or fewer beneficiaries may still exceed the threshold because trust participants include persons involved during the relevant year of assessment in transactions such as:
- distributions or vestings of income or capital;
- loans to or from the trust;
- donations;
- contributions;
- returns of contributions; and
- rights to use trust assets.
A trust with more than 10 trust participants must submit its ITR12T through eFiling.
Where a trust has 10 or fewer trust participants and meets SARS’s other requirements, branch-assisted capture may be available. A branch appointment must be booked, and the return must be printed and completed before the appointment.
SARS described the branch-assisted facility as intended for less complex trust returns. It said trustees should consult the 2026 Trust Filing Season Guide and the applicable ITR12T filing requirements to determine the correct submission channel.
Documents that must accompany the return
SARS’s media release listed documents that trustees should have available when completing an ITR12T or when requested by the revenue service.
In response to Moonstone, SARS said the specific supporting documents will depend partly on the trust’s circumstances and the information disclosed. However, it confirmed that the following must accompany the ITR12T:
- the trust deed or last will and testament, as applicable;
- Letters of Authority;
- relevant trustee resolutions; and
- beneficial-ownership documentation.
Annual financial statements or annual administration accounts and other relevant trustee minutes or resolutions may also be mandatory, depending on the trust and its disclosures.
Minutes dealing solely with internal trustee governance arrangements or administrative matters are excluded from the requirement.
The comprehensive ITR12T guide scheduled for publication on 18 September is expected to clarify the full supporting-document requirements for different types of trusts.
Documents may have to be retained for longer than five years
Relevant supporting material must generally be retained for five years from the date on which the return is submitted.
SARS told Moonstone that longer periods apply where a required return remains outstanding, an objection or appeal has not been finalised, an audit or investigation is under way, or the documents remain relevant to future years of assessment.
Where a required return has not been submitted, the documents must be retained until the filing obligation has been met and for five years after submission. Some documents must be retained indefinitely if they remain relevant to future years of assessment. SARS cited information relevant to capital gains tax as an example.
SARS also noted that assessments may be issued beyond the ordinary prescription periods in cases involving fraud, misrepresentation, or non-disclosure of material facts.
Enhanced questions about founders
SARS said in its media release that the beneficial-ownership questions on the ITR12T will be enhanced to cater for cases in which a founder is a deceased natural person or was a legal entity that no longer exists.
In response to Moonstone, SARS acknowledged that it has not published a specific methodology for determining the natural persons to be reported where a legal-entity founder has been deregistered, liquidated, or otherwise ceased to exist.
SARS said its objective is to identify the natural persons behind a legal-entity founder where possible. The determination will be fact-specific and depend on the structure involved.
Trustees should submit available documentation showing the former founder’s historical ownership or control chain, supported by a beneficial-ownership organogram. Where founder details are no longer available or applicable, the enhanced question will allow this to be indicated so the return can still be submitted.
Beneficial-ownership information can be captured when a trust registers through the SARS Online Query System and maintained through the ITR12T. SARS said no further action is required at this stage to update the trust’s registration information solely because of the enhancement to the return.
Other changes to the ITR12T
Du Toit said trust taxpayers will be able to amend an incorrect Master’s reference number directly on the ITR12T, subject to validation against the information registered with SARS.
She said the existing restriction on the length of the reference-number field will remain for now. SARS has indicated that a future enhancement will accommodate the full reference number reflected on the Letters of Authority.
The revised ITR12T will also introduce continuous-save functionality, which will automatically save information while the return is being completed.
Du Toit said the revised ITR12T will also contain improved questions dealing with special-trust qualification. These will include confirmation that the trust continued to meet the relevant requirements during the year of assessment.
She said collective investment scheme trusts will have the option of providing beneficial-ownership information on the ITR12T, although this will not be mandatory. This is separate from their exclusion from the IT3(t) filing requirement.
SARS said tax-practitioner contact details will be mandatory on the enhanced ITR12T. This requirement would apply where a tax practitioner is involved in preparing or submitting the return.
Tax affairs must be settled before termination
SARS said in its media release that termination by the Master and income tax deregistration with SARS are separate processes. Trustees must therefore submit a separate deregistration application to SARS after the trust has been terminated.
In response to Moonstone, the revenue service reaffirmed the sequence set out in its guidance issued in April.
Before approaching the Master for termination, trustees should:
- submit all outstanding tax returns;
- settle outstanding tax liabilities or debt; and
- resolve other outstanding compliance matters.
Once the trust is tax-compliant, the trustees may approach the Master to terminate it. They must thereafter apply to SARS for income tax deregistration. The termination letter issued by the Master is among the documents required for the SARS process.
“SARS will generally not approve the deregistration of a trust where material tax obligations remain outstanding,” the revenue service told Moonstone.
Trustees should also establish whether a refund is due before approaching the Master. In guidance issued on 9 April 2026, SARS warned that once a trust has been terminated and has legally ceased to exist, the revenue service may be unable to process or pay a refund owed to it.
Trustees retain ultimate responsibility
SARS emphasised that trustees retain ultimate responsibility and accountability for the trust’s tax affairs, even if they appoint a tax practitioner or delegate certain administrative or filing functions.
Trustees are required to exercise care, diligence, and skill in managing the trust’s affairs. SARS also referred to the joint-action rule, which requires co-trustees to act collectively in administering a trust.
In its response to Moonstone, the revenue service said it may, in appropriate circumstances, consider the joint-liability provisions in the applicable tax legislation where taxes remain unpaid.
This does not mean trustees automatically become personally liable for every tax debt of a trust. Personal or joint liability may arise where the applicable statutory requirements are met.
Trustees must also notify SARS within 21 business days of changes to relevant registered particulars. These may include changes to the representative taxpayer, contact information, physical or postal addresses, and other particulars required by SARS.
Failure to notify SARS of changes to registered particulars may constitute an offence under the Tax Administration Act.
SARS said the Trust Filing Season 2026 Guide and the updated Comprehensive Guide to the ITR12T would be published on 18 September. Trustees and practitioners should consult these guides for the detailed official filing and supporting-document requirements.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information and does not constitute tax, legal, fiduciary, or other professional advice. Trustees should obtain advice appropriate to the circumstances of the trust and consult the latest SARS guidance before acting.
