Quick answer
Use the first consultation to obtain decisions, not a lecture on tax disputes. Ask the adviser to identify the precise SARS act being challenged, the document that starts time, whether reasons are adequate, the grounds and amounts that can be put in issue, the evidence still missing, and whether payment needs a separate suspension request. Then agree who will draft, who will verify the numbers and what happens if SARS rejects, disallows or partly allows the submission.
How to use this guide
The most useful questions are tied to your actual assessment and records. Give the adviser the notice, eFiling delivery evidence, audit correspondence, return, disputed-item schedule and any collection communication before expecting a confident procedural answer.
Ask what is legally open to objection
Start with: “Which assessment or decision am I entitled to object to, and which part or amount is in dispute?” SARS correspondence can include assessments, requests for information, audit findings, remission outcomes, collection notices and service communications. They do not all use the same remedy.
Ask whether a correction, request for remission, objection, complaint, review or another process applies to each issue. If the eFiling menu does not show the expected option, ask whether this results from the tax type, period, earlier procedural step or a system problem. Make the adviser identify the prescribed form and delivery channel rather than assuming that any upload creates a valid objection.
Ask which event starts the time period
Request a written deadline calculation showing the trigger document and business-day method. Rule 7 ordinarily requires an objection within 80 business days. Where no reasons were requested, the date of assessment is generally the starting point. If a proper rule 6 request was made before objection, SARS's delivery of reasons or its notice that reasons were already supplied may become the relevant trigger.
If the clock may have expired, ask: “What reasonable grounds or exceptional circumstances can honestly be proved for the delay?” Extensions exceeding 30 business days require exceptional circumstances, and the statutory three-year outer limit cannot be negotiated away. Ask which documents support every period of the delay and whether a refusal of condonation would itself be objectionable.
Ask whether the reasons are sufficient
The right question is not simply whether SARS gave a letter. Ask whether the existing material explains the factual and legal basis well enough to formulate detailed grounds. A rule 6 request for reasons generally must be delivered within 30 days from the date of assessment and must precede the objection. SARS may extend that request period by no more than 45 days if reasonable grounds exist for the delay.
Ask what the reasons request should identify and which propositions remain unexplained. Also ask how the objection clock will be recorded while the request is processed. A request for reasons should clarify the assessment; it is not a substitute for the objection itself.
Ask how every ground will be proved
For each disputed item, ask the adviser to complete this sentence: “SARS says ; the taxpayer says ; the legal or factual reason is ; the evidence is ; and the requested correction is .” This exposes vague assertions before they enter the form.
Ask who will reconcile the figures and sign off the schedules. The accountant may own ledger reconstruction, tax computations and ties to the return, while a tax lawyer may own statutory interpretation, procedural objections and legal characterisation. Where an expert opinion or valuation is needed, ask when it must be commissioned and what assumptions it should address.
Confirm whether the proposed grounds preserve the issues that may need to be appealed. Current rules require detailed objection grounds and prevent an appeal from introducing a new objection against a part or amount not originally challenged. Ask what adverse facts must be disclosed and how unsupported conclusions will be kept out of witness or grounds statements.
Ask separately about payment and recovery
Put a direct question to the adviser: “What is due now, what collection action is possible, and should a section 164 suspension request be made?” An objection or appeal does not automatically suspend payment. A senior SARS official considers a separate suspension request using factors that include recovery risk, compliance history, possible fraud, hardship and security.
Ask who will monitor the ten-business-day recovery standstill described in section 164 after SARS receives a suspension request and after notice of its decision or revocation, subject to the dissipation-risk exception. Do not assume that this limited recovery rule amounts to approval of suspension or changes the objection deadline.
Ask what happens after submission
Agree who retains the final form, attachments, case number and receipt timestamp. Ask how quickly an invalidity notice or request for substantiating documents will be escalated. Under the dispute rules, a taxpayer receiving an invalidity notice for an objection filed within time may have a limited opportunity to submit a compliant replacement.
Ask about the appeal decision in advance. Current SARS guidance generally gives 30 business days from disallowance or partial disallowance to lodge a notice of appeal and sets a limited condonation framework. Clarify whether alternative dispute resolution, the tax board or the tax court is a realistic later forum, but do not spend on a full hearing strategy unless the objection outcome and value justify it.
Ask about mandate, privilege and cost
Confirm who is the client, who may instruct, who will communicate with SARS and whether a power of attorney or eFiling access change is required. Request separate estimates for immediate deadline protection, merits drafting, accounting reconstruction, suspension work and any appeal. Ask what is excluded and what event will trigger a revised quote.
If legal professional privilege may matter, ask the lawyer which communications and documents could qualify and how to keep them separate from ordinary source evidence. Copying a lawyer does not make an accountant's work papers privileged, and pre-existing records remain evidence rather than protected legal advice merely because counsel receives them.
End by asking for a written action list naming the owner, input and due date for every step. That answer is more useful than a general prediction of success, which no adviser can responsibly guarantee before SARS considers the complete record.
Important limitation
These consultation questions are general information and do not establish grounds, condonation, privilege, suspension or appeal prospects in an individual tax dispute.
FAQs
What deadline question should I ask first about a SARS objection?
Ask the adviser to identify the exact trigger document and reproduce the business-day calculation, including the effect of any prescribed request for reasons.
What should I ask about the proposed grounds of objection?
Ask which part or amount is challenged, which SARS ground is disputed, what correction is sought, and which exhibit proves each material factual proposition.
Should payment suspension be discussed in the objection consultation?
Yes, but as a separate workstream. Ask what remains payable, what recovery step is possible and whether a supported section 164 request is appropriate.
How should I ask about fees for a SARS dispute?
Request separate scope and cost estimates for deadline protection, accounting reconstruction, objection drafting, payment-suspension work and any later appeal.
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Legal note
This article is general legal information for South African readers. It is not legal advice. Speak to a qualified legal professional about your specific facts before taking action.