Tax Compliance Status (TCS): AIT Applications, PIN, and Verification

A SARS tax compliance status, usually shortened to TCS, is a live record of whether your tax affairs are in order, expressed through a unique PIN that third parties can verify in real time on the SARS website. You request the PIN through eFiling under one of two categories, Good Standing or Approval International Transfer, and SARS will issue it once your returns are filed, your debt is settled or formally deferred, your registrations are current, and your personal details are up to date. The PIN replaces the old paper Tax Clearance Certificate, and because verification happens live, your compliance is checked at the moment someone looks it up rather than on the day it was printed.¹

The Two Application Categories

Since April 2023, SARS has offered just two TCS application types. Older categories for Tenders, Foreign Investment Allowance, and Emigration were folded into the current structure, and any historic applications still visible on your dashboard under those names are legacy records that cannot be used for new requests.¹

Good Standing is the general-purpose category. Government procurement, licence applications, loans, and business due-diligence checks all sit here. If someone asks for a “tax clearance” in a South African context, they almost always mean Good Standing.

Approval International Transfer (AIT) covers South African tax residents moving funds abroad beyond the Single Discretionary Allowance, and people who have ceased tax residency and need to expatriate assets. AIT combines what used to be the Foreign Investment Allowance and Emigration applications into a single dynamic form, and it carries much heavier documentation requirements because SARS needs to verify how every rand leaving the country was earned and taxed.²

What Your Profile Needs Before You Apply

SARS checks five things when you submit a TCS request. Miss any one of them and the application will fail:¹

Every return you owe, whether income tax, VAT, or PAYE, must be filed and processed.
You cannot owe SARS money unless a formal payment arrangement or an approved suspension of payment is in place.
Any tax type your circumstances require (provisional tax or VAT, for example) must be actively registered.
Your registered address, contact information, and banking details must be current.
Multiple tax reference numbers must be merged through eFiling or declared on the ERC01 form.

The outstanding-debt rule has an important exception. Under sections 167 and 168 of the Tax Administration Act, a debt can be deferred through an instalment arrangement, and where a dispute is pending SARS can suspend payment while the matter is resolved. In either case your profile can still show as compliant.

Requesting the PIN on eFiling

You can submit a TCS request through eFiling or the SARS Online Query System, but eFiling is the usual route because it gives you an ongoing dashboard.³ The steps are straightforward:

Log in, open the Tax Status menu at the top of the eFiling interface, then select “Tax Compliance Status Request.”
Choose Good Standing or Approval International Transfer.
Check the pre-populated tax reference numbers and contact details carefully. Incorrect details are one of the most common causes of rejection.
Set the PIN’s validity by entering a two-digit number of months, such as “06” for six months or “12” for a year.
Submit. For a compliant Good Standing request, the system generates a unique 10-digit PIN almost immediately, and you can have it sent by SMS or view it on your dashboard.

Think about the validity period before you submit. Each request generates a new PIN, so you cannot extend an existing one; if you set a short expiry and the tender or bank process runs long, you will have to apply again.⁴

AIT Applications: Timelines and Documents

AIT applications are not automated. Where a Good Standing check takes seconds, an AIT request goes to a case worker who reviews your source-of-funds documentation. SARS aims to finalise straightforward AIT applications within five business days, and applications that trigger an inspection can take up to 21 business days.

You complete the AIT TCR01 application form on eFiling. Submitting the form is a formal declaration that its contents are true, and SARS will decline any application containing inaccurate information, so accuracy matters the first time.⁵

Documents Every AIT Application Needs

No matter the source of the funds, you must include:

Material demonstrating the source of the capital being transferred.
A statement of assets and liabilities for the previous three tax years, covering investments, loan accounts, and distributions from local and foreign companies or trusts.
A Power of Attorney if someone else is submitting on your behalf.

Bank statements must be issued no more than 14 days before the submission date. This is a hard rule, and stale statements are one of the most common reasons AIT applications stall.

Documents Specific to the Source of Funds

On top of the general set, you attach evidence tied to how the money was generated:

Savings or cash: bank statements showing the value plus support for the original source.
Sale of property: a conveyancer’s letter confirming the transfer and trust-account payment, or bank statements showing the proceeds, along with a Capital Gains Tax calculation.
Sale of shares or securities: a Capital Gains Tax calculation if already sold, or a portfolio statement no older than a month if not.
Inheritance: the Final Liquidation and Distribution account, stamped and signed by the Master of the High Court, plus a bank statement reflecting receipt.
Trust distributions: the trust deed, latest Letters of Authority from the Master, trustee resolutions authorising the distribution, recent financial statements, and a share portfolio statement not older than a month.
Donations: an IT144 declaration, bank statements from donor and donee, and proof donations tax was paid.
Loans: the signed loan agreement, bank statements showing the loan amount, and details of the lender’s source of capital.
Crypto assets: a trading account statement reflecting the trade and a bank statement showing the amount available for transfer.

SARS also accepts documentation for investment income, royalties, earnings, and income from any entity in which you hold a direct or indirect beneficial interest.⁵

Non-Residents

If you are a non-resident who is no longer on the SARS database, the standard eFiling TCS route is closed to you. You request a Manual Letter of Compliance by emailing SARS directly. There is one carve-out: people who ceased tax residency and are transferring up to R10 million (excluding certain lump-sum benefits) do not need the manual letter, but transfers above R10 million do.

When an Offshore Transfer Actually Needs a PIN

Not every rand moving abroad triggers TCS. The South African Reserve Bank sets two thresholds that decide when you need SARS approval, both confirmed in Exchange Control Circular No. 6/2026:⁶

Single Discretionary Allowance: Residents aged 18 and older may transfer up to R2 million per calendar year abroad for any lawful purpose without a TCS PIN, including domestic listed securities up to R2 million in market value.
Foreign Capital Allowance: Residents may transfer up to R10 million per calendar year for investment or other approved purposes, but this requires a TCS PIN.

So a R1.5 million offshore transfer for a holiday property deposit can move under the SDA with no PIN required. The moment your calendar-year total crosses R2 million, you need to go through the AIT process.

How a Third Party Verifies Your PIN

Once you have the PIN, you share it along with your tax reference number with whoever needs to check your status. That party enters both numbers into the verification tool on the SARS website, and the system returns an instant result.⁷ They see your compliance state; they do not see the rest of your tax profile.

The verification reflects your compliance at the moment the check runs, not the day the PIN was issued. If you miss a VAT return after the PIN is generated, the verification tool will show non-compliant even though the PIN itself has not expired. That live check is why organisations trust the TCS system more than the paper certificates it replaced.

Keeping the Dashboard Green

Your eFiling dashboard shows a green or red indicator for every tax type you are registered for. Green means that tax type is in order; red means something needs attention, whether an unfiled return, an unpaid assessment, or outdated registration details.¹

Missed filing deadlines and late payments are the usual culprits. A single missed return will flip your status even if last month’s PIN was clean. Resolving the issue usually means submitting the missing return or paying the outstanding amount through eFiling, and the dashboard updates within a short window once the return is processed or the debt clears.

Check the dashboard before you need a PIN, not the morning you need one. If you find a red flag on the day of a tender deadline, you probably will not resolve it in time. For anyone who regularly bids for procurement work or moves money offshore, a monthly dashboard check is worth building into routine.

What Non-Compliance Costs

An unfiled return does more than block your PIN. SARS levies administrative non-compliance penalties under section 210 of the Tax Administration Act, scaled to your taxable income from the preceding year:⁸

Assessed loss or R0–R250,000: R250 per month
R250,001–R500,000: R500 per month
R500,001–R1,000,000: R1,000 per month
R1,000,001–R5,000,000: R2,000 per month
R5,000,001–R10,000,000: R4,000 per month
R10,000,001–R50,000,000: R8,000 per month
Above R50,000,000: R16,000 per month

Penalties recur every month the return remains outstanding, up to 35 months. A taxpayer in the R1–R5 million bracket who leaves a return unfiled for the full period could face R70,000 in penalties. Even if you plan to dispute the penalty, SARS advises filing the outstanding return straight away so that further monthly charges stop accruing while the objection runs.

Disputing a TCS Outcome

If SARS declines your application, or if the assessment behind a non-compliant status is wrong, the dispute route is governed by Chapter 9 of the Tax Administration Act.⁹ You begin with a Notice of Objection: for income tax and corporate tax it can be lodged through eFiling; for VAT or PAYE it goes to SARS by post or in person at a branch.

If SARS rejects the objection, you can escalate to appeal. Cases where the tax at stake does not exceed R1,000,000 can go to the Tax Board if both sides agree; Tax Board decisions bind the parties but do not set precedent. Larger disputes and unresolved matters go to the Tax Court, whose judgments can be appealed to the High Court or, with leave, directly to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Pick the fight worth having. If the underlying problem is an unfiled return or a straightforward debt, fix the root cause rather than contesting the TCS outcome, because the dispute process is designed for genuine disagreements about assessments, not for missed deadlines. Where you do have a real dispute, applying for a suspension of payment while the objection is pending can keep your TCS status compliant in the meantime.

1
South African Revenue Service. Manage your Tax Compliance Status
2
South African Revenue Service. Guide to the Tax Compliance Status Functionality on eFiling
3
South African Revenue Service. How to Request your Tax Compliance Status
4
South African Revenue Service. Guide to the Tax Compliance Status Functionality on eFiling
5
South African Revenue Service. Supporting Documents for Approval of International Transfers (AIT)
6
South African Reserve Bank. Exchange Control Circular No. 6/2026
7
South African Revenue Service. How to Verify Tax Compliance Status
8
South African Revenue Service. Admin Penalty
9
South African Revenue Service. Dispute Resolution Process