ALSO KNOWN AS APPOINTING YOUR PUBLIC OFFICER
SARS Registered Representative Activation
Your company cannot transact with SARS until the person who represents it is recorded and active on SARS's system. That person is your registered representative, and for a company the Tax Administration Act calls them the public officer. We get yours appointed and lodged with SARS, and we follow it up until the status reads Active.
What you get
- Your registered representative, the public officer in the case of a company, appointed and lodged with SARS
- We follow it up until your status reads Active, and we tell you the moment it does
- Progress updates on WhatsApp or email
What you'll need
Shown before you pay, always. Have these ready and most clients are done in under 10 minutes.
- Certified copy of the ID or passport of the person being appointed
- That person's proof of residential address
- Your company's Notice of Incorporation or CIPC registration certificate
- A signed appointment letter or board resolution naming that person (we send you the template)
- A photo taken on the day we submit, showing that person holding their ID next to a handwritten note reading 'Update my details'. SARS requires that exact wording, and we tell you when to take it
- Trusts: your trust deed and the minutes of the trustees' meeting making the appointment. Estates: the Letter of Executorship from the Master of the High Court
- A 2-minute eFiling invite (we send you the exact click-by-click guide)
How it works
- 1Pay online
Card or instant EFT, secure checkout.
- 2Check your email for your upload link
The moment you pay, we email you a secure link to upload your documents. Most clients finish in under 10 minutes.
- 3We handle SARS
We submit within 24 hours of receiving your documents, chase SARS, and confirm back to you until it is done.
Questions
Is this the same thing as a public officer?
For a company, yes. Registered representative is SARS's own system term. The Tax Administration Act calls a company's one the public officer. Same appointment, two names, and we use both here because you will meet both. For a trust it is the main trustee, for a partnership the main partner, for a close corporation the main member, and for an estate the executor.
Can my accountant be my registered representative?
Usually not. SARS's own guide states that an accountant or tax practitioner cannot be appointed as a registered representative unless they are an employee of the legal entity. On the customs side SARS allows a tax practitioner only where he or she is also a director of the company. This one catches a lot of businesses out. Note too that a legal entity can only have one registered representative at a time, so appointing a new one replaces the old one.
How long does it take?
Two honest answers. If SARS already has you on record as the entity's representative, activation is immediate. If it does not, SARS opens a verification case and its published turnaround is 21 business days. Separately, SARS gives you 21 business days to get the supporting documents to it, and if that window is missed SARS cancels the application and you start over. We submit within 24 hours of receiving your documents.
Do I need this before an import or export licence?
SARS customs policy requires the appointed public officer, the registered representative, to be recorded at the time your legal entity is registered. The registered representative is also the person who grants the eFiling access that customs registrations are lodged under. So it sits upstream of your importer's code. Buying an Import and Export Licence too? Tell us and we do this one first.
What happens if we never appointed one?
The seat does not stay empty. Where a company has not appointed a public officer, the Tax Administration Act treats the first eligible person as the public officer, starting with the managing director, then the financial director, then the company secretary, then directors by shareholding and by length of service. That person then carries responsibility for the company's tax defaults personally. Note also that the old rule giving you one month from the day you start trading was repealed on 24 December 2024. The law now expects your public officer to be in place from formation.
Can I not just do this myself?
Yes, on eFiling, and where SARS already holds you as the representative it takes minutes. What you are paying for is having a customs specialist prepare the appointment, lodge it with SARS and stay on it until your status reads Active, rather than working out the SARS screens yourself and then wondering what happened to your application. If your case is genuinely simple, we will tell you so.
CustomsDirect is a private consultancy and is not affiliated with SARS. SARS processing times are outside our control; our submission promises are ours and we keep them.