SARS trust tax return changes for 2025: What trustees need to know
Tax The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced significant updates to the Income Tax Return for Trusts (ITR12T),
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The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced updates to the income tax return for trusts (ITR12T), aligning with the start of the 2025 trust filing season, which officially opened on September 20, 2025.
Last week, the revenue service issued a firm reminder to trustees across the country that all "trusts must file a tax return annually, including those that are not economically active".
"SARS has made it easy for taxpayers to comply through online filing. The Personal Income Tax Return (ITR12) and Trust Income Tax Return (ITR12T) are available on eFiling," the revenue service said.
The revenue service has released updated guideline documents to assist trustees in navigating the latest changes. These include:
Section 1 of the Income Tax Act – Definition of a trust
The definition of a trust has been amended, and it now includes a portfolio of a collective investment scheme and a portfolio of a hedge fund collective investment scheme.
Section 6quat(1A) (a)(iii) of the Income Tax Act
With effect from March 1 2025, trusts may claim foreign tax credits on income or capital gains earned abroad. The credit must not exceed the portion of South African tax related to that income. If the foreign tax paid is higher, the excess will be carried forward for up to six years, and SARS will track and maintain these carryover amounts to prevent double taxation.
Section 25B of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 – Taxation of non-resident beneficiaries of trusts
With effect from March 1 2025, section 25B was amended to limit the flow-through principle to resident beneficiaries only. This means that all income and capital gains distributed to non-resident beneficiaries will be taxed in the hands of the trust. As a result, trusts with non-resident beneficiaries may be required to submit IRP6 returns to meet provisional tax obligations.
Section 12H of the Income Tax Act 58 of 1962 – Learnership agreements
The current sunset date of April 1 2024 was extended to March 31 2027.
Section 25B(4) – (6) of the Income Tax Act – Limitation of losses
- A new wizard question has been added to address the limitation of losses in terms of section 25B(4) – (6).
- The question intends to ascertain how s25B(4)-(6) impacts the calculation of net income of a trust and may be used to improve the return in future years for such scenarios.
Beneficial Ownership
- The beneficial owner category has been updated to include an unnamed beneficiary. If this category is selected, details of the unnamed beneficiary(ies) must be included in the free text field provided.
- A new question, namely, “Is the founder deceased?” has been added to the beneficial owner section of the return to address a common issue raised where the founder is deceased. This is mandatory to complete if founder is selected as the beneficial owner category.
Form Wizard and field amendments included but are not limited to:
- Trust details section has been updated to include a question for the trust to confirm if the youngest beneficiary is younger than 18 years at the end of the year of assessment, if the trust is classified as a special (b) trust.
- Capital Gain / Loss section to confirm if the trust is a bewind or vesting trust.
- Trust participation section has been updated to include a question for the trust to confirm if a IT3(t) return was submitted to SARS.
- Taxable in Trust vested and not vested in foreign beneficiary fields has been updated to include “i.t.o. s25B” under all income fields for local and foreign income.
- Farming and Farming Partnership containers has been amended to include new fields as per legislation updates and to make it simpler to complete.
- Special Depreciation and Capital Improvement containers has been moved to after Enhanced Renewable Energy – s12BA container to improve readability and usability.
eFiling enhancements also include:
- A verification message to confirm if the youngest beneficiary is younger than 18 years at the end of the year of assessment, if the trust is classified as a special (b) trust.
- The refresh functionality has been enhanced to include farming information (IT48 and IT48V) from the previous year of assessment
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