1. The taxpayer cannot submit outstanding tax returns to SARS, as SARS has disabled the ability for taxpayers who have changed tax residency to submit their tax returns until non-residency has first been successfully proven to SARS.
2. Taxpayers are often unaware of the monthly penalties raised by SARS on outstanding tax returns until they access their Penalty Statement of Account on eFiling or they receive a final demand from SARS. The SARS penalty
   1. is based on a taxpayer’s taxable income.
   2. can range from R250 up to R16 000 a month for each month that the outstanding tax return is not submitted.
3. SARS will mark the taxpayer as non-tax compliant on the SARS system, which means the taxpayer
   1. cannot apply for a Tax Clearance for Good Standing, which in turn means that the person
      1. cannot receive their monthly annuity or pension from a South African bank
      2. cannot apply for a tender application.
   2. cannot apply for an Approval for International Transfer (AIT) Tax Clearance, which means the taxpayer
      1. cannot take ANY money out of the country (this includes a distribution from a South African trust)
      2. they cannot receive inheritances from a South African estate (if they hold other assets in SA);
4. As SARS has the taxpayer as being SA tax resident on their system, SARS can technically tax the person’s worldwide earnings, instead of only taxing them on income from a South African source as they are non-resident taxpayers.
5. The taxpayer runs the risk of incorrectly declaring their tax residency on forms required by SARS and other institutions.

With SARS having spent significant money on AI, their ability to identify non-compliant individuals has greatly increased.