SAICA: POPIA Guide – Tax Considerations

SAICA: POPIA Guide – Tax Considerations

• 17 March 2025
• Regulatory Compliance and Legislation
• South African Accounting Academy

Summary:

The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) has issued Annexure H − Template to document findings of Personal Information Impact Assessment, which provides guidance on POPIA tax considerations.

Article:

The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) must be interpreted in a manner that does not prevent any public or private body from exercising or performing its functions. This as far as such functions relate to the processing of personal information. Such processing must be in accordance with POPIA or any other legislation, that regulates the processing of personal information.

SARS has powers to collect personal information in accordance with tax legislation and for the proper performance of their statutory obligations. The main legislation that guides SARS on tax administration is the Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011 (TAA). In line with the principles of POPIA SARS must collect information that is necessary for the administration of tax collection. In addition, SARS must seek the best options to collect that information and ensure that there are necessary safeguards for information in its possession. As such, SARS must apply the 8 conditions of processing information.

This guide is supplemented with guidance on how to deal with the interplay between POPIA and the TAA.

Contents:

• Transfer of large files
• Section 26 of the TAA: Third-party returns
• Section 46 of the TAA: Request for relevant material
• Section 102: Burden of proof information
• Consequences of Non-compliance with a request from SARS
• SARS’ duty of confidentiality
• 11 Takeaways for tax practitioners

Click here to download the 8-page Guide:

https://saicawebprstorage.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/resources/POPIA-Guide-Annexure-H-Tax-considerations.docx

Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:

• POPIA and the TAA are both pieces of legislation that your clients must comply with, and which you must assess compliance with.  If they don’t comply with the relevant laws and regulations, you have certain reporting obligations in terms of NOCLAR (NOn-Compliance with Laws And Regulations) – this could include reporting to management, qualifying your audit opinion, reporting a Reportable Irregularity, etc.
• Tax Practitioners, Auditors, Independent Reviewers and Accountants should always be aware of the latest publications issued by regulators, professional bodies and standard-setting boards, such as SAICA, as well as the contents of any practical considerations contained within this guide.
• As an entity in your own right, you also need to comply with POPIA in your workplace, and also with the TAA when dealing with SARS.

Relevance to Your Clients:

• An entity (company or close corporation) has a duty to comply with POPIA, and also with the TAA when dealing with SARS.

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