Tax and SARS knowledge base
A company's SARS public officer and their responsibility
Who must be a company's SARS public officer, and what is that person's responsibility?
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Direct answer
A company needs a recognised SARS representative or public officer to deal with tax administration. The person must be properly authorised and their SARS details should be current. SARS's ITR14 guidance states that the company representative or public officer's login provides authentication for ITR14 submission on eFiling.
The role is not a formality. The person should be able to protect the company's SARS access, receive and review correspondence, ensure tax details are current and oversee submissions. The exact eligibility, appointment and legal consequences depend on the company facts and applicable law.
What this means in practice
In a small company, a director may handle all tax administration. In another company, the operational work may be performed by finance staff or an external accountant. Those facts do not eliminate the need for a clearly authorised representative and controlled access.
Treat the appointment as a governance process. The company should know who is recognised by SARS, how their authority is evidenced, where their contact details are stored and what happens if they resign, are removed or become unavailable. A former representative with active access is a security and filing risk.
The public officer or representative should not share eFiling credentials. Instead, use appropriate authorised access, maintain a handover checklist and review delegate access periodically.
Step-by-step
- Confirm the person currently recognised by SARS.
Review the eFiling profile and the company's SARS records. Compare them with company records, because an internal job title alone does not prove current SARS authority.
- Confirm authority and eligibility.
Keep the appointment resolution, mandate or other authority document. Where an external person is involved, separate the engagement letter from the company's internal authority to appoint or authorise them.
- Update company particulars when necessary.
Before filing an ITR14, check the company's address, contacts, bank details and representative particulars. SARS guidance indicates that legal-entity details may need to be verified and updated before a return is requested.
- Set secure operating rules.
Restrict logins, enable the available account protections, record who can submit or view returns, and retain a process for notices and deadlines. Do not allow staff to work from shared credentials.
- Review each material submission.
The representative should ensure the ITR14, reconciliations and responses agree to the company's records before submission. Keep the submission confirmation and a copy of the filed document. Treat filing deadlines as controlled work.
- Manage changes promptly.
When a representative leaves or authority changes, update the company's records and SARS access without delay. Retain a record of the handover and remove inappropriate access.
Documents and records to keep
Keep the appointment or authority resolution, company registration documents, representative identification and contact information, eFiling access register, engagement letters, filing calendar, submissions and handover records. Store access-related documents securely and limit access to the minimum necessary.
Important limits and exceptions
This guide does not decide who is legally eligible or liable in every company. Director duties, tax-practitioner rules, trusts, insolvency and cross-border facts can change the analysis. A person with access is not necessarily correctly appointed, and a correct appointment does not mean that every filing can be delegated without review.
When to get tailored advice
Get advice where the company has no available director, a representative has died or left, there is a dispute about authority, a tax practitioner is being appointed, or SARS access cannot be corrected. Act early if a deadline or SARS notice is pending.
TaxProof can help prepare a records checklist and filing controls. We cannot decide legal liability or bypass SARS authority requirements.