On 30 July 2024, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) advised that it was enhancing its digital platforms to help traders and taxpayers meet their tax and customs obligations with ease. As part of this modernisation, SARS is automating the management of customs and excise bonds. This includes the introduction of the Guarantee Management Service (GMS) system, which will serve as a comprehensive platform for managing these bonds through eFiling to provide traders and taxpayers with bond-information records.
From 26 July 2024, the GMS system will process cases automatically by:
- Notifying traders and taxpayers of SARS requests, surety receipt and cancellation.
- Providing taxpayers and traders, upon request, with a list of guarantees/bonds held by SARS. (These will be displayed when a trader selects the “Manage Bonds and Guarantees” menu under the eAccount menu on eFiling.)
For this phase of the implementation, only SARS’ clients with access to an eAccount on eFiling can view their list of bonds held with SARS. These steps are accessible at:
https://www.sars.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/Docs/CandE/Letter-to-traders-Automation-of-Bonds.pdf