Why You Should Never Share Your SARS eFiling Password
SARS eFiling credentials should never be shared — not even with your accountant. Here's the proper way to grant access, and what to do if you already have.
If you've ever sent your SARS eFiling username and password to your accountant, bookkeeper, or tax practitioner — stop doing that going forward.
Treat those login details exactly like your ATM PIN. Nobody legitimate needs them, ever — not your accountant, not your bookkeeper, not SARS itself.
Why It's Dangerous
Whoever has your eFiling login can see your complete tax history, submit returns on your behalf, and — critically — change your registered banking details. That last one is how most eFiling-related fraud actually happens. Not hacking. Just someone using a password they were freely handed, quietly redirecting a refund before anyone notices.
What You Should Do Instead
You were never actually supposed to hand over your password. SARS has a proper channel built for exactly this.
Every registered Tax Practitioner has a Tax Practitioner Profile with SARS (mine is PR-0101146). When a practitioner needs access to a client's tax affairs, the request goes through eFiling itself, using a process called a Tax Type Transfer / Shared Access Request:
- Your practitioner sends the access request through their own eFiling profile.
- You receive and open the request on your own eFiling profile, under your own login.
- You approve it yourself. If it's a company, the registered representative approves it.
Your practitioner never sees, holds, or needs your username or password at any point in that process.
If You've Already Shared Your Password
It happens constantly, and it's not something to be embarrassed about — most people assume it's how you're supposed to give access. If you have:
- Log in and change your password today.
- While you're in there, check your registered banking details are still correct.
- Ask your practitioner to send a proper Shared Access Request instead, and remove the old access.
Our Standard Practice
As a SARS-registered Tax Practitioner, we're sent eFiling login credentials unprompted more often than you'd think. We never ask for them. If you've sent yours to us in the past, or to anyone else, the steps above apply — change your password today, then let's set up proper access instead.
Your eFiling profile is worth protecting like your bank account, because it effectively is one.
By Reghardt Venter, Founder & Director — Fintec Group
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