SARS is withholding a refund for an individual taxpayer stating that it is "under approval" with the assessors, and that the turn-around time for the refund is up to 60 days. The banking details are valid, there is no special stopper (confirmed with call
Important:
This answer is based on tax law year ending 28 February 2017.
Answer:
The position is that SARS, under section 190(2) of the Tax Administration Act, is entitled to withhold a refund. We quote from the section:
“SARS need not authorise a refund as referred to in subsection (1) until such time that a verification, inspection or audit of the refund in accordance with Chapter 5 has been finalised.”
But, as Judge Sutherland explained, “… the power to refuse to pay a refund is limited to an examination of the contemplated refund itself … an examination of income tax affairs of the taxpayer cannot be relevant as a brake on the invocation of section 190(1) entitling the taxpayer to the refunds.”
The SARS service charter states that SARS should “conclude an audit within 90 business days from the date all required supporting documents are received.” This may well not refer to the audit of a refund.
There is nothing preventing you from following this up with SARS – you could lay a complaint if you believe the process is taking longer than it should. The matter of refunds has been identified by the Office of the Tax Ombud as a systemic issue and you can go to them directly.