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How do I verify my SARS registration details before filing?
How do I verify my SARS registration details before filing?
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Direct answer
Before filing, open SARS Registered Details and the Registration Amendments and Verification Form, RAV01, in the relevant eFiling profile. Compare the registered particulars shown there with your current identity, address, contact and legal-entity records. Where a supported change is needed, submit the update with the required evidence and retain the resulting notice or confirmation.
RAV01 is for registered particulars and tax-product information. It does not replace the steps for completing a return, and SARS guidance distinguishes those particulars from eFiling security details.
What this means in practice
Accurate registered details help ensure that correspondence, verification requests and return administration connect to the right taxpayer. The details can include the legal entity's demographic information and linked tax products. A mismatch does not always stop a filing immediately, but it can create avoidable delays or make it harder to establish who is acting for the taxpayer.
Review the profile before a filing deadline, rather than discovering an old address or incorrect email while trying to submit a return. Use your source records as the comparison point. For an individual, these may include identity and current contact records. For a company, they may also include entity-registration information and authority for the person managing the profile.
Separate registered details from security details. A current postal or business address on RAV01 is not the same thing as a current eFiling password, login contact setting or access-control arrangement. SARS says security details are updated separately. Do not try to solve an account-access problem by changing registered particulars that are already correct.
Only submit changes that are supported and genuinely apply to the taxpayer. A quick change to get past a screen can cause future correspondence or verification issues. Keep a copy of what changed and why.
Step-by-step
- Identify the profile and filing obligation.
Confirm which taxpayer, tax type and upcoming return are involved. If you represent an entity, ensure you are in the correct client profile.
- Assemble current source records.
Gather identity, address, contact and entity documents relevant to the taxpayer. Also have any prior SARS notices available for comparison.
- Open SARS Registered Details and RAV01.
Use the current eFiling navigation available in the profile. RAV01 is the form SARS uses to view and maintain legal-entity registered particulars.
- Review core particulars carefully.
Compare names, identifiers, contact details, address information and relevant entity details against your source records. Check the tax products linked to the entity where this is relevant to the filing.
- Distinguish a registration issue from a security issue.
If the information shown is correct but you have a login, password or access problem, use the applicable eFiling security route. Do not submit a RAV01 amendment simply because the account is difficult to access.
- Submit supported amendments.
Where a registered detail is inaccurate, follow the available amendment process and provide the required support. Recheck the taxpayer and field before submitting.
- Retain confirmation and recheck before filing.
Save the submission reference, notices and evidence. When the information is updated or confirmed, proceed to the separate return-completion workflow.
Documents and records to keep
- Identity or entity records used to verify the details.
- Current address and contact evidence where relevant.
- Authority records for a representative acting for an entity.
- A record of the RAV01 view or submitted amendment.
- SARS confirmations, notices and correspondence.
Important limits and exceptions
RAV01 supports registered-detail maintenance, but available fields and evidence can differ by taxpayer type. An amendment may require verification or supporting documents. Do not assume that saving a change is the same as SARS accepting it.
Reviewing details does not file a return, change an assessment or activate every tax product. Those are separate matters. Likewise, a representative's eFiling access does not by itself establish that all registered particulars are correct.
If the profile displays conflicting entity or authority information, preserve screenshots and use an official route. Avoid repeated changes made solely to see whether the warning disappears.
When to get tailored advice
Get tailored advice when a legal entity's records conflict, an authorised representative has changed, an address affects a current SARS case or a return is due while verification is unresolved. It can also help to have a review where several tax products are linked to the same entity.
TaxProof can help make a record-based checklist before the filing workflow starts. SARS decides whether any amendment is accepted and whether further verification is needed.
Related TaxProof guides
- How do I update a company's registered SARS particulars through RAV01? (B04-ADM-007)
- How do I register for income tax if I do not have a tax number? (B04-ADM-005)