How to Set Up SARS eFiling for Your Business
If you want to manage your company’s tax affairs online, there are three separate things that need to happen on SARS eFiling: first, you register yourself as an eFiler; second, you register or confirm yourself as the registered representative of the business; and third, you register and activate the business profile on eFiling so it appears under your login. SARS explains that organisation users act on behalf of the entity as the representative taxpayer or appointed representative, and that tax types must be activated on the profile before you can transact.
Step 1: Register for your own personal eFiling profile
The process starts with your personal eFiling registration, even if you are the only director of the company. You create your own username and password, verify your details, and activate your personal profile first. SARS states that registered taxpayers can register on eFiling and that users can have different roles on the system.
Step 2: Register as the registered representative of the business
After your personal profile is active, you must make sure SARS recognises you as the registered representative of the company. For a company, this is usually the public officer. SARS says the registered representative can be registered or updated on eFiling or through the SARS Online Query System, and that this step is required for the person acting for the entity.
This step matters because being a director does not automatically mean the company will appear on your eFiling profile. SARS must first have you recorded as the person authorised to act for that entity.
Step 3: Register the business profile on eFiling
Once you are set up as the registered representative, the next step is to add the business onto your eFiling profile as an organisation. This is the part many business owners miss. Your personal login and the company’s profile are not exactly the same thing. The company must be brought onto the system as an organisation portfolio so that its tax references can be managed there. SARS’s eFiling guide distinguishes between individual, tax practitioner, and organisation portfolio types, and explains that an organisation portfolio is for a representative acting for a tax-paying entity.
In practical terms, this is the step where the company becomes visible under your eFiling access.
Step 4: Link the business profile to your personal eFiling access
After the organisation portfolio is in place, the company’s profile must be linked so that you can see and manage it from your own login. When this has been done correctly, you will be able to access the business from your taxpayer list or organisation menu. SARS also notes in its shared access guide that if the registered representative is linked, the system displays the entities linked to that representative.
This is what allows you to work from one login while still managing the company separately from your personal taxes.
Step 5: Activate the business tax types on eFiling
Once the business profile is linked, you then activate the relevant tax products on the organisation profile. SARS’s current guidance says this is done by selecting the taxpayer from the taxpayer list, going to the Organisation menu, then Tax Types, then Manage Tax Types. SARS also states that activation of the relevant tax type is necessary before you can submit returns, make payments, or request statements of account.
At this point, your business is properly set up on eFiling and you can then register for whichever taxes are required for that business.
Step 6: Check that the business is fully visible and active
Once setup is complete, you should be able to log in and see the business under your organisation profile, access its SARS correspondence, and manage its registrations and compliance from there. SARS’s RAV01 guide also notes that registered representatives can view and maintain legal entity registration details on eFiling once the profile is activated.
Final point
The full setup is therefore:
- register yourself as an eFiler
- register or confirm yourself as the registered representative
- register the business profile on eFiling as an organisation
- link that business profile to your login
- activate the necessary tax types
That full process is what allows a founder to see the company on eFiling and manage everything in one place.
