"What's Happening There by SARS?": SA Man Explains Why SARS Blocked His R323k Tax Refund, SA Reacts
- South African accountant and financial advisor shared how SARS blocked his R323,000 tax refund without any explanation
- Modern Money With Munya visited a SARS branch after his call centre enquiries went nowhere and his accountant was equally in the dark
- The reason behind the blocked refund left him, and viewers stunned when it was finally uncovered
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Source: Instagram
A South African financial advisor found himself without access to a R323,000 tax refund. No explanation. No warning. Just silence from SARS.
Modern Money With Munya, an accountant and content creator known for his finance commentary on TikTok, shared the ordeal on 24 August 2026. In the video, he explained that SARS had promised him the refund three weeks earlier before suddenly refusing to pay it out.
His accountant had no answers. The SARS call centre had no answers. So he walked into a branch himself.
After waiting an hour at the counter, the staff member he spoke to was equally clueless and offered to escalate the matter, warning him it could take 21 working days. He declined, having gone through a similar experience the year before. Instead, he asked to speak to a manager.
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The R50 that froze a six-figure refund
While waiting, Munya admitted he began to question himself. Having spent much of the year publicly criticising SARS on TikTok, he wondered, briefly, whether this was some form of payback.
It was not. The manager looked into the account and discovered that SARS had flagged a compliance issue. Munya holds two tax profiles: one for his personal taxes and another through which he pays tax on behalf of his employees each month. That second account was in arrears.
The outstanding amount? R50.
Despite having paid more than R1 million in tax, that R50 shortfall was enough to render him non-compliant and freeze his entire refund. He described it to the manager as the cost of a cappuccino, saying:
"And you wonder why people do everything to avoid you guys."
View the TikTok video below:
South Africans share their own SARS horror stories
The video struck a nerve, drawing hundreds of comments on his page from people with strikingly similar experiences.
@palesamadiba138 wrote:
"They withheld my refund because the year before, I overpaid by R100. They withheld it because THEY OWED ME R100!!!",
@china asked:
"Haibo! What's happening there by SARS?"
@Shelton reacted:
"Over a flat white — dusted me."
@lerato2407 shared:
"My husband was owed a refund of 120k. They blocked it, saying it should be audited for some other reason. Coming back, it stated that he owed them R2."
More Briefly News stories on SARS
- SARS now requires travellers entering or leaving South Africa to complete an online Customs declaration within 24 hours before departure, with limited exceptions for those unable to submit electronically.
- SARS has closed a tax loophole that previously allowed married couples to transfer assets between spouses with certain tax benefits, prompting angry reactions from South Africans online.
- A man was removed from SARS offices in Klerksdorp after causing a scene during a heated confrontation with security guards, earning praise from South Africans online.
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Source: Briefly News
