# Check your SARS eFiling compliance and VAT status by API

> Read a taxpayer's My Compliance Profile, VAT filing control table and VAT201 Returns History from SARS eFiling with one API call each. A workflow can go through your Taxpayer List every Monday and email you each client whose compliance status changed.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/sars-efiling
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own SARS eFiling account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on eFiling

### Check tax compliance status

Reads My Compliance Profile under Tax Status for one taxpayer: the overall status, the Registration, Submission of Return and Debt items, and the TCS requests.

- Takes: Taxpayer from your Taxpayer List
- Returns: Overall compliance status, registration, returns and debt status, outstanding periods, TCS type, request status, PIN status, issue date, expiry date

### Read the VAT filing control table

Opens Request VAT Control Table under Returns Issued for up to 12 months and reads whether each tax period's return was received, is required or is overdue.

- Takes: Taxpayer, start date, end date
- Returns: Tax period, status (received, required, outstanding and overdue)

### List filed VAT201 returns

Reads Returns History for Value Added Tax (VAT201): each filed return's period, status, amount due and complete date.

- Takes: Taxpayer, earliest tax period (optional)
- Returns: Tax period, return type, status, amount due, complete date

### Request a VAT statement of account

On the VAT201 Work Page, selects Request Statement of Account for a transaction year and period range, then reads the summary of the VATSOA.

- Takes: Taxpayer, transaction year, start period, end period
- Returns: Statement date, statement period, transaction year, unallocated payments, closing balance

## Automate eFiling with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### Weekly compliance check of your Taxpayer List

Starts: Every Monday at 7:00 (Africa/Johannesburg)

1. For each taxpayer you name, check the tax compliance status in My Compliance Profile.
2. Keep the taxpayers whose Overall Compliance Status changed since the last run.
3. Email you the list, with which of Registration, Submission of Return or Debt is non-compliant.

### Outstanding VAT201 returns, every client

Starts: Every weekday at 8:00 (Africa/Johannesburg)

1. For each taxpayer, read the VAT filing control table for the last 12 months.
2. Keep the periods marked Return is outstanding and overdue or Return is required.
3. Post each one, with taxpayer, tax period and status, to your practice system's webhook.

### TCS PINs that expire soon

Starts: On the 1st of every month at 7:00 (Africa/Johannesburg)

1. For each taxpayer, check the tax compliance status and its TCS requests.
2. Keep the PINs with status Active and an expiry date in the next 60 days.
3. Email you the list by expiry date, with the TCS type.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Check tax compliance status” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "secure.sarsefiling.co.za/check_tax_compliance_status",
    "input": {
      "taxpayer": "Acme Trading (Pty) Ltd"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "taxpayer": "Acme Trading (Pty) Ltd",
    "overall_compliance_status": "Non-compliant",
    "registration": "Compliant",
    "submission_of_return": {
      "status": "Non-compliant",
      "outstanding": [
        {
          "tax_type": "VAT",
          "period": "202608"
        }
      ]
    },
    "debt": {
      "status": "Compliant",
      "outstanding": []
    },
    "tcs_requests": [
      {
        "type": "Good Standing",
        "request_status": "Approved",
        "pin_status": "Active",
        "issue_date": "2026-05-14",
        "expiry_date": "2027-05-14"
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## EFiling’s own options

eFiling has no self-serve API. SARS lets software vendors connect their products through its ISV interface after signing its terms and passing acceptance testing, for annual returns, PAYE returns, transfer duty and tax directives. Employers file EMP201 and EMP501 declarations in e@syFile Employer, free SARS software linked to eFiling. Compliance status, VAT control tables and statements are read on eFiling itself.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ISV interface | Submits ITR12, ITR14, IRP6 and ITR12T returns, PAYE returns, transfer duty and tax directives from approved third-party software. | For software vendors: signed ISV terms and SARS acceptance testing. Users need an active eFiling profile with the appropriate rights. |
| e@syFile Employer | Monthly EMP201 declarations and EMP501 employer reconciliations: complete, submit and revise them, and request a statement of account. | Free SARS software linked to eFiling, installed on your computer. Updates come from the eFiling website; the current version is 8.0.2. |
| eFiling by hand | Returns Issued, Returns History, My Compliance Profile and statements of account, one taxpayer at a time from the Taxpayer List. | An eFiling profile. On an organisation profile, each user's rights come from rights groups. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [Independent Software Vendors](https://www.sars.gov.za/individuals/i-need-help-with-my-tax/your-tax-questions-answered/independent-software-vendors/), [e@syFile](https://www.sars.gov.za/businesses-and-employers/my-business-and-tax/easyfile/), [Guide for completing the VAT201 return](https://www.sars.gov.za/gen-elec-04-g01-guide-for-completing-the-value-added-tax-vat201-declaration-external-guide).

## Signing in to eFiling

eFiling signs you in with a username and password. SARS enforces a second step on all individual profiles: a one-time PIN sent to your security contact details by email or SMS, or a push to the SARS Mobile Application. With Fous you sign in once through eFiling's own sign-in with your profile: the login is sealed with AES-256, an emailed code or a phone approval is handled, and an expired session is signed back in.

## Worth knowing

- **One taxpayer at a time**: A profile that manages several taxpayers selects one from the Taxpayer List before using Tax Status or Returns, so each method takes the taxpayer as an input.
- **Rights decide what each user sees**: The rights Tax Compliance Status and Tax Compliance Status Verification are assigned under Organisation, Rights Group, Manage Groups. Sign in with a user that holds the rights your methods need.
- **eFiling keeps only the last VATSOA**: Each new VAT statement of account replaces the previous one on eFiling. Statements cover the last 5 years, and when one cannot be issued at once it can take up to 48 hours.
- **The VAT control table spans 12 months**: The VAT filing control table accepts at most 12 months per request. If it shows No Results for a range inside your liability date, Refresh fetches the latest information from SARS.

## More in Government: Middle East and Africa

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- [KRA iTax](https://fous.com/automate/kra-itax.md)
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- [Egyptian Tax Authority e-Services](https://fous.com/automate/egyptian-tax-authority-e-services.md)
- [ZATCA e-Services](https://fous.com/automate/zatca-e-services.md)
- [uFiling](https://fous.com/automate/ufiling.md)
- [EmaraTax](https://fous.com/automate/emaratax.md)
- [Mudad](https://fous.com/automate/mudad.md)

Other industries: [Mercell](/automate/mercell), [FinanzOnline](/automate/finanzonline), [eFileIL](/automate/efileil), [HM Land Registry portal](/automate/hm-land-registry-portal), [EPA Central Data Exchange](/automate/epa-central-data-exchange), [eVA](/automate/eva).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does SARS eFiling have an API?

Not one you can sign up for yourself. SARS lets software vendors connect through its ISV interface after signing its terms and passing acceptance testing, for annual returns, PAYE returns, transfer duty and tax directives. Employers file EMP201 and EMP501 in e@syFile Employer, and the rest is done on eFiling.

### How do I check whether a taxpayer is tax compliant on eFiling?

Open My Compliance Profile under Tax Status for that taxpayer. It shows an Overall Compliance Status and green or red indicators for Registration, Submission of Return and Debt. A third party verifies a TCS with the tax reference number and the PIN.

### How far back can I get a VAT statement of account?

Five years from the date of the request, and not before March 2007 on eFiling. You choose a transaction year, March to February, then a Start Period and End Period in YYYYMM. Older statements come from a SARS branch.

### Which VAT201 returns show in Returns History?

Returns with the status Submitted to SARS, Processed by SARS, Manually Submitted or Selected for Audit. Open takes you to the VAT201 Work Page, where you can request a statement of account, make a payment or see the refund status.

### Is Fous affiliated with the South African Revenue Service?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own eFiling profile, and a method reads and does only what that profile's rights allow.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of SARS eFiling (South African Revenue Service). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.