Your SARS registered representative, explained.

SARS says an appointment letter is not required when the founding documents show a sole director and that same director is being activated. If the sole director appoints someone else, the appropriate appointment letter or POA is required. Other document and verification requirements still apply. [1]

Useful when the relationship needs to be added or corrected on SARS's records. The SARS Online Query System (SOQS) guide says the representative must complete this request. [7]

1. Go to SARS Online Services and choose Register a Representative.
2. Choose the correct representative capacity and entity type.
3. Enter the taxpayer entity's details separately from the representative's personal and contact details.
4. Use Document Requirements to check the requested evidence, then upload it.
5. Submit the request and retain the case number, documents and confirmation email.
6. Read the outcome and complete any further verification or activation needed.

SARS publishes a period of 21 business days for this representative-update case. That is its published processing period, rather than a GreenTax guarantee or a promise of same-day access. [1]

1. Sign in with your own login and select the correct Organisation or Tax Practitioner portfolio and taxpayer.
2. Go to Organisations → SARS Registered Details → Activate Registered Representative. Some screens refer to Activate Registered User.
3. Choose the relevant route. A practitioner assisting a client uses Activate Tax Practitioner; the properly appointed representative uses the representative route.
4. Check the identity, reference and capacity fields. Accept a declaration only if it correctly describes your authority.
5. Submit the activation and any evidence SARS requests. Check the outcome.

Active confirms successful activation. Unconfirmed or Request under Verification means further checking may be required. For Rejected, read the reason and correct it before resubmitting. [8]

Menu wording can vary by portfolio and SARS updates. Use the linked SARS guide if your screen differs.

Activating a role and approving tax-type access are separate checks. Your practitioner adds the client and requests the required tax types in their own portfolio. [9]

1. The practitioner checks Organisations → Organisation → Tax Types → Manage Tax Types for the selected client.
2. Where approval is required, the taxpayer or registered representative uses SARS's official tax-type authorisation process.
3. The approving person completes identity verification and enters the OTP on the official SARS service themselves.
4. The practitioner refreshes the client's tax-type status and checks that the required access succeeded.

A signed mandate supports the authority to act. It does not replace a required online approval. [9]

When you can sign in, go to My Profile → Profile and Preference Setup → Security Contact Details. Follow the verification prompts. If you cannot receive verification codes or access the account, use SARS's official recovery or appointment channels. [5]

SARS's digital-channel guidance says an existing activation request may need to be cancelled and submitted again after the contact correction, so it retrieves the new details. First confirm the correction succeeded. [10]

Keep the case number, submission date, supporting documents, outcome and follow-up history together. Ask SARS to identify the outstanding requirement. For unresolved service issues, follow the contact and escalation steps on SARS's complaints page; a prior case number is needed for the relevant service-complaint categories. A service complaint does not replace an objection or appeal against a tax assessment. [11]