[Update Date: 15 January 2025] [Update Date: 12 December 2025] [Post Date: 26 November 2025]
Issue: SARS has made the following changes to trust returns, which will be implemented on the GS system over the weekend of 12 December 2025:
| Issue | Description | Result of fix being implemented |
| Validating age limit on type (b) special trust. | When the User or Taxpayer requests their trust tax return, and the trust is a type (b) special trust, they will be requested to confirm if the youngest beneficiary is still under the age of 18. The pop-up message currently appears across all trust types, even when the trust is not classified as type (b) special trust. This will now be rectified to only appear when the trust classification is type (b) special trust. | The question “is the youngest beneficiary younger than 18 years of age?” will now only appear for type (b) special trusts. Taxpayers that select “no”, will be redirected to the RAV to rectify the classification of the trust. |
| Tick-box – “is the founder deceased” results in non-availability of Beneficial Ownership containers. | The provision of Beneficial Ownership information should only be removed for the founder if the founder is deceased. The containers for all other beneficial ownership categories (trustees, beneficiaries, etc.) should be available for completion. | When the tick-box “is the founder deceased?” is selected, the founder’s detail will not be required but all other Beneficial Ownership information will be available for editing or confirmation purposes. |
| Pre-population of Beneficial Ownership information. | Beneficial Ownership information does not populate when the return is requested. | Beneficial Ownership information will be correctly pre-populated when the return is selected. |
| Beneficial Ownership information not displayed correctly on the read only version. | Beneficial Ownership not displayed correctly on the ITR12T read only version. | The Beneficial Ownership information will be readable on the ITR12T read only version after completion. |
| Local rental loss trust issue. | The Taxable in Trust (not vested in beneficiaries) field, under the Local Rental Income from the Letting of Fixed Property container, is not calculating correctly when there is a loss. | Rental loss will now be accurately calculated. |
| Question – “did the trust submit an IT3(t)?” issue | When answering “yes” to the question “did the trust submit an IT3(t) return?”, taxpayers could not complete trust participant information. | The question “has the trust submitted an IT3(t) return?” has been removed from the 2025 ITR12T. |
Current Issues When Submitting Trust Returns
Users are currently experiencing the following errors when submitting trust returns:
Issue 1: ‘SARS: Specify the number of persons or beneficiaries who during this year of assessment participated in any one or more of the following:’ is a mandatory field.‘
Workaround (until the GS system update is applied):
Answer No to the “Did the trust submit an IT3(t)” question and complete all beneficiary details.
Issue 2: ‘SARS: The Tax Reference Number you have entered does not seem to be valid. Please ensure that it is correct.’
Cause: This is a SARS bug that incorrectly validates valid tax numbers and does not allow ten zeros where there is no tax reference number. The issue has been escalated to SARS.
Affected Services: ITR12T Submissions
Date First Reported: 21 November 2025
Status
[15 January 2026] SARS has made a fix to production.
[12 December 2025] SARS has made a fix to the internal test site and will be apply the fixes next week Wednesday or Thursday (TBC).
[27 November 2025] We have escalated the invalid tax reference number error to SARS.
Fix Timeline
[15 January 2026] SARS has made a fix to production and submissions can continue as normal.
[12 December 2025] The fix for the submission issue is scheduled for either Wednesday or Thursday next week. I will confirm as soon as SARS sets the exact date.
[27 November 2025] The issue is currently under investigation, and there is no confirmed date for a fix yet.
Workarounds
[15 January 2025] Submissions can continue as normal via GS.
[12 December 2025] Still the same as per the 27 November post.
[27 November 2025] If an urgent submission is blocked due to the error “SARS: The Tax Reference Number you have entered does not seem to be valid. Please ensure that it is correct,” please submit via eFiling.
Please keep an eye on this page for updates. We appreciate your patience. If you have urgent concerns, feel free to contact our support team at support@greatsoft.co.za or call us at 021 531 7180.
