Now that SARS can start penalising taxpayers who only have one outstanding tax return, tax season has become far more stressful than it was before. For this reason, it’s important to have all your supporting documents available when you’re filing a return. One of those documents is an IT3B certificate. Not every taxpayer needs this document. But if you have savings or investments, not having this document will delay filing your return and result in penalties. Since SARS adds penalties monthly, even having a minor delay like not attaching an IT3B certificate can be costly. So, if you’re asking, “where do I get my IT3B tax certificate from?” like many South Africans, you can find those details below.
What is Your IT3B Certificate?
An IT3B certificate is a certificate you receive from a financial service provider that summarises the interest and dividends you’ve generated from investments. You need to include this when filing your tax return because SARS views this interest as part of your income. As a taxpayer, you may have several IT3B certificates from various institutions depending on how much money you’ve invested or saved and so on. However, before you go on the hunt to attain your IT3B certificates, you should understand the different types of income you should be declaring as part of the IT3B.
Local Dividends: This is the amount you have received from the last tax year from dividends paid by JSE listed companies or funds that invest in JSE listed companies.
International Dividends: This is the sum of all the interest and dividends you’ve received from offshore investments.
Interest from Savings: You should also declare the interest you’ve earned from savings. However, you don’t need to pay taxes on this interest unless it exceeds the amount applicable for your age bracket.
Taxable Dividends: If you have invested in a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), you will also need to include the distribution generated from these funds.
Royalties: You should include an IT3B certificate if you have received an income from the use of copyrighted material and assets.
How and Where to Download Your IT3B Certificate
Before you download your IT3B certificate, you should be aware of how many certificates you’d need. If you have several investments with different banks and funds, you’ll need to approach each to get the IT3B. Furthermore, you should also ensure that any interest or dividends reflect on your tax return and that you’ve paid tax on this income. Many funds will pay tax on your behalf, but confirm that is the case before assuming.
To make it easier for you to find and download your certificates, you can also log in to your SARS efiling profile and navigate to your latest – or outstanding – ITR12 return. Click on your certificates and see correspondence SARS has sent requesting IT3B certificates. Using this information, you can then download the relevant certificates SARS needs.
Some companies may send you your IT3B certificate when tax season begins. You can upload these documents as supporting documents on your efiling or take them along if you are filing within a branch. However, if you haven’t received your IT3B certificate, you can follow the steps below.
Downloading Your IT3B Certificate From Your Bank
Since many South Africans have some savings or investments with their bank, you can begin by getting the IT3B certificate for each investment product from your bank.
FNB:
Login to Your Account: To get your IT3B Certificate from FNB, you first need to log in to your online banking profile.
Navigate to My Bank Accounts: Click on “My Bank Accounts” on the top navigation menu. Then, once you’ve been redirected, select the account you need to access for an IT3B.
Click on Menu: After being redirected to the account, you want to access, click on “Menu” on the left side of the screen.
Select Tax Certificates: On the menu screen, click on the IT3B certificate you need.
Enter Your Email Address: Once you have selected the certificates, enter your email address and click submit.
Nedbank
Login to Your Banking Profile: To start the process, log in to your online banking profile.
Select the Required Account: You will need to navigate to the account that has the relevant IT3B certificate. Then, under features, choose your delivery statement.
Choose the Required Year: Click the year you need the statement for and then download the certificate to your device.
ABSA
To get your IT3B certificate from ABSA, you’ll need to log in to your banking profile and navigate to certificates. Once you’ve accessed these certificates, you can download them from your banking profile.
Standard Bank
Some Standard Bank customers have had difficulty finding a way to download the IT3B certificate. However, you can easily get the certificate by logging into your online
Capitec Bank
To get your IT3B certificates from Capitec, use the bank’s mobile app and follow the prompts under “Certificates of Interest” you should then either be able to download the certificate or have the certificate emailed to you.
On your online banking profile, go to “My Banking” and select the fourth option, “I want to view my Certificate of Interest,” from there, you should be able to choose the year you need, followed by the prompt to download the certificate.
Downloading Your Tax IT3B Certificate From Your Fund Managers
Most funds will send you an IT3B statement either at the beginning of the tax season or during the tax season.
However, if you haven’t received this statement, you can follow the steps below to retrieve them.
Old Mutual
If you have an Old Mutual Secure account, log in and navigate to certificates. If you do not have an account, create one and follow the prompts. Once you’re on your user dashboard, find certificates and select the type of certificate you need.
Momentum
If you have any investments with Momentum, they make it simple for you to get your IT3B. Click on this link – which will take you to the “Request for Tax Certificate” page – enter your ID number and the year you require an IT3B certificate for and click submit.
Allan Gray
To initiate the process, log in to your Allan Gray online profile. Once on your profile, click on the Investment Report Button. The option to get a detailed transaction history or statement summary should appear. Select the one you need. Then, select the year and the account you need to access, followed by “Go.” Then click download.
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Liberty
Getting your IT3B from Liberty is simple. Visit Liberty’s website and log in to your account. Once on your user dashboard, select “Liberty Policy Servicing,” reenter your username and password, and then choose the fund you need an IT3B for.
If your fund is not on this list, this doesn’t mean you won’t receive IT3B certificates from them. By law, all financial service providers should give you access to this information. Instead, if your fund isn’t on this list, be sure your details are up-to-date. This includes your email and postal address. Most funds will send you an IT3B once a year, and if they don’t have the correct email address on file, you won’t receive the certificate.
To ensure you aren’t caught off-guard this tax season, try to get your IT3B certificates at the beginning of the season.
If you’re unsure if you’ve received any IT3B certificates via email, you can also login to your email provider and, using the search function, enter “IT3B.” A list of emails that contain IT3B should pop up. You can then download these certificates and upload them to the SARS efiling system.
