How to remove a former employee or accountant from SARS eFiling access

Direct answer

First identify the type of access. For a former employee who is a user on an organisation or tax-practitioner portfolio, open the correct portfolio, go to User and select Delete User. Enter the reason and confirm. If an individual's tax type is active with a tax practitioner, use Manage Tax Types and choose Remove Tax Practitioner Access where eFiling presents that option.

Deleting a portfolio user, cancelling a pending invitation and removing a tax practitioner's tax-type access are different SARS eFiling actions.

What this means in practice

An employee might have been invited as a user to a business portfolio. In that case, SARS's user-management function is the relevant route. A pending invitation can be cancelled instead, while an accepted user can be deleted from the portfolio.

An accountant may have access through a different arrangement. On an individual profile, SARS provides options when a tax type is active with another party, including removing tax practitioner access. Do not assume that removing one arrangement automatically removes all other access, changes a registered representative, or changes the taxpayer's SARS registration record.

Step-by-step

1. Identify the access relationship before making a change.

Check whether the person is an existing user on an organisation or practitioner portfolio, an invitee who has not yet accepted, or a tax practitioner who has access to an individual's tax type. Review the correct taxpayer and portfolio.

1. Remove an accepted portfolio user.

In the organisation or tax-practitioner portfolio, select User. On the left menu choose Delete User for the existing user. SARS requires a reason for deleting the user. Enter it, select Delete User, then choose OK on the confirmation message.

1. Cancel an invitation that is still pending.

Use Change Details and select Cancel Invitation where the person has not accepted yet. SARS says this deletes the invite and removes both the user from the requestor's portfolio and the requestor's profile from the user's Portfolio Management screen.

1. Remove tax-practitioner access from an individual tax type.

On the individual eFiling profile, go to Manage Tax Types. Where the tax type is activated with a tax practitioner, SARS says the available options can include Remove Tax Practitioner Access. Use that action only for the relevant tax type.

1. Review access after the change.

Confirm that the status changed as expected and check any remaining users, groups and tax types separately. Keep a record of who was removed, the date of the action and the relevant confirmation.

1. Deal with representative status separately.

If the departing person is also recorded as the SARS registered representative, do not assume that eFiling user deletion changes that status. Use the separate SARS process for registered-representative changes.

Documents and records to keep

• Access to the correct portfolio with authority to manage users or tax types.
• The departing employee's or accountant's name and the portfolio or tax type affected.
• A clear reason for deleting a portfolio user, as SARS asks for one.
• The confirmation of deletion, cancellation or removal of practitioner access.
• A record of any remaining eFiling groups or tax types that need review.

Important limits and exceptions

The Delete User action removes a user from an existing portfolio. It is not the same as cancelling a pending invitation. Removing a tax practitioner's access from an individual tax type is another separate action. Use the route that matches the actual access relationship.

SARS's eFiling user guide does not say that one deletion removes every access relationship across every SARS service. Nor does it say that the change updates the registered representative. Review other roles and follow the formal representative process if that is also changing.

When to get tailored advice

Get tailored help where the departing person is a registered representative, tax practitioner, public officer, trustee, executor or holds sensitive payment or submission access. The administration step should reflect the person's real authority and the taxpayer's legal structure.

TaxProof can help prepare an access-review checklist and organise the relevant SARS correspondence. SARS controls eFiling user deletion, tax-type access and registered-representative records.

Related TaxProof guides

• Update your SARS registered representative
• How do I create a user and assign rights on an organisation eFiling profile? (B01-ADM-009)
• How do I activate a tax type on my eFiling profile? (B01-ADM-006)

Sources

• SARS, Guide to Register for eFiling and Manage your User Profile