Overview

• The draft report tallies 15,968 reported hijacking cases provided by Sars, with an average of 387 new cases logged each month.
• Sars reports refunds of approximately R21,169,678.91 to victims over the past two years and says 94% of cases it finalised in 2024 were resolved in taxpayers’ favour.
• Case studies describe unauthorised access, changes to banking details and diverted refunds, with most fraudulent amounts under R10,000 and some reaching R100,000.
• The largest loss cited totals R460,389.65 after delayed action allowed two VAT refunds to be paid into a perpetrator’s account.
• Recommendations call for two‑factor authentication, stricter practitioner controls, cooperation with banks, the CIPC and SAPS, amendments to the Tax Administration Act and a Reserve Bank probe into banking irregularities.