Good day,

I fell behind on submitting returns for 2015 to 2018. I visited a SARS branch and they processed all returns for me on 22/03/2018. A refund of R3500.00 reflected, but was allocated towards admin penalties on 24/03/2018. They appear as follows:

2018-04-11 1 ITS Outstanding Returns 2016 250.00
2018-04-11 2 ITS Outstanding Returns 2017 250.00
2018-05-11 3 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2016 250.00
2018-05-11 4 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2017 250.00
2018-07-20 5 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2016 250.00
2018-07-20 6 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2017 250.00
2018-08-11 7 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2016 250.00
2018-08-11 8 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2017 250.00
2018-10-12 9 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2016 250.00
2018-10-12 10 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2017 250.00
2018-12-11 11 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2016 250.00
2018-12-11 12 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2017 250.00
2019-01-12 13 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2016 250.00
2019-01-12 14 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2017 250.00
2019-03-24 19 Assessed/Admin Penalty Credit Transfer Journal -3500.00
2019-04-13 22 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2016 250.00
2019-04-13 23 Recurring Outstanding ITS Return 2017 250.00

Firstly, why didn't penalisation start as soon as the return was overdue? Secondly, why are there no penalties for 2015? Thirdly, why was penalisation skipped for certain months (June, September, November, February)? Fourthly, I only received remuneration from a single source, which did not exceed R350K, and nothing else (e.g. interest) - does this not mean I was exempt from submitting a return at that stage?

Reference: https://juta.co.za/media/filestore/2...rnal_Guide.pdf

Thank you