By Chris Herbst, Chartered Business Accountant in Practice (CBAP) with CIBA, General Tax Practitioner (GTP) with SAIT, Stellenbosch University. Team registered with SAIT, SAIPA and CIBA.
The IT3(f) is the certificate behind one of the most valuable deductions on a personal tax return. It confirms what you paid into your retirement annuity during the tax year, and the same data reaches SARS directly from your fund. When the certificate, the prepopulated figures on eFiling and your IRP5 agree, the deduction under code 4006 follows. When they do not, the return is where the gap shows. This guide explains what the IT3(f) contains, who issues it, how SARS uses it and what to check before you file your ITR12.
What Is an IT3(f) Certificate?
An IT3(f) is the tax certificate a retirement annuity fund issues to confirm the total contributions you made to your policy during the tax year. The SARS Comprehensive Guide to the ITR12 states that the institution to which your contributions were made will issue a certificate, for example an IT3(f) income tax certificate, confirming the total contributions made for the tax year.
Why is it called IT3(f)?
The IT3 series is the set of third party returns SARS requires from institutions under section 26 of the Tax Administration Act. Each letter is a data type: IT3(b) for investment income, IT3(c) for capital gains and losses on financial instruments, IT3(s) for tax free investments, IT3(t) for trust vestings, and IT3(f) for insurance and medical scheme data, which includes retirement annuity contributions.
Does IT3(f) only cover retirement annuities?
No. SARS Notice 3631, published in Government Gazette 48867 on 30 June 2023, lists three returns under the IT3(f) label: the purchase of and contributions to any retirement annuity policy, amounts paid on the death of a person under an insurance policy, and contributions to a medical scheme with the expenses the scheme paid. For your ITR12, the retirement annuity data is the part that drives the 4006 deduction.
Is the IT3(f) the same as my annual RA statement?
Not always. A fund's annual statement usually shows fund values, growth and fees. The tax certificate shows the contributions made in the tax year, which is the figure the ITR12 asks for. Some funds combine the two in one document. Use the page that states the tax year contributions.
Who Issues the IT3(f) and When Does SARS Receive It?
The fund or long-term insurer that administers your retirement annuity issues it. SARS's third party data submission page lists IT3(f) Insurance as submitted by long-term insurance companies and similar institutions, covering all retirement annuity contributions made by the member for the year of assessment.
Which institutions must submit IT3(f) data?
Notice 3631 places the duty on financial institutions regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority or the Prudential Authority, for the purchase of and contributions to any retirement annuity policy. The data is compiled in accordance with the SARS Business Requirement Specification for Insurance Payments.
What are the submission dates?
Notice 3631 sets two dates for institutions listed in it. Data for 1 March to 31 August is due by 31 October each year, and data for the full year from 1 March to the end of February is due by 31 May. The declarations are submitted electronically through the SARS eFiling service.
Why does this matter to me as the member?
The 31 May full-year submission is what SARS uses to prepopulate the retirement annuity section of your ITR12. If your fund's data has not reached SARS, or reached it with an error, the prepopulated figures on your return will not match your certificate.
How Does the IT3(f) Link to Code 4006 on the ITR12?
Code 4006 is the total retirement annuity fund contributions for the year of assessment. The ITR12 guide states that the amount must be the total for all the retirement annuity policies you will derive a benefit from, including the amount on your employee's tax certificate, and that eFiling calculates it on the electronic return.
What if my employer pays part of my RA?
Where your employer pays premiums on your behalf, your IRP5 shows the benefit under code 3828 and the SARS PAYE Business Requirements Specification defines code 4006 as contributions paid and deemed paid, the deemed part being the 3828 value. Our guide to SARS code 3828 explains how the employer-paid amount flows into 4006.
Do I add the IRP5 amount to the IT3(f) amount?
Check what each document covers first. The 4006 total counts each premium once. Where the fund certificate already includes the premiums your employer paid, adding the IRP5 amount on top overstates the deduction. Where the certificate and the IRP5 cover different policies, both are included.
What if I have two policies with one fund?
Each policy is listed separately. The ITR12 guide gives the example of Old Mutual certificates that split contributions between retirement plan and max investments contributions. The guide states that the split confirms two policies within the same fund, and both amounts are added to arrive at the 4006 total.
- IT3(f) Insurance: Issued by: RA fund or insurer; What it shows: RA contributions for the year
- IRP5 / IT3(a): Issued by: Employer; What it shows: 3828 benefit and 4006
- IT3(f) Medical: Issued by: Medical scheme; What it shows: Medical contributions
- IT3(b): Issued by: Bank or investment house; What it shows: Interest and dividends
- IT3(c): Issued by: Investment platform; What it shows: Gains and losses
How Much of My RA Contribution Can I Deduct?
The deduction is set by section 11F of the Income Tax Act. The ITR12 guide states that the allowable deduction is the lesser of R350,000 for years of assessment up to 2026 and R430,000 from the 2027 year of assessment; 27.5% of the greater of your remuneration or your taxable income including taxable capital gains, before the section 11F and 18A deductions; and your taxable income before those deductions excluding taxable capital gains. Retirement, withdrawal and severance lump sums are excluded from each measure.
Does the limit include my pension and provident fund?
Yes. From 1 March 2016 the one deduction covers pension fund (4001), provident fund (4003) and retirement annuity (4006) contributions together. Our guide to retirement fund deductions and the 27.5% cap works through how they combine.
What happens to contributions above the limit?
The ITR12 guide states that SARS calculates the allowable deduction programmatically and carries any excess forward to the next year of assessment. In the guide's own 2025 example, R50,000 of contributions produces an allowable deduction of R36,000, and the balance of R14,000 is carried forward.
Can I claim a contribution I made for my spouse or child?
No. The ITR12 guide states that you may not claim retirement contributions made on behalf of a third party, such as a spouse or child. The deduction belongs to the member of the policy, so a policy in your spouse's name is claimed on your spouse's return.
How Does SARS Prepopulate My Retirement Annuity Details?
The ITR12 guide states that from the 2020 year of assessment the retirement annuity details on your return are prepopulated with data received from the third party, which is the fund's IT3(f) submission. You complete the fields yourself only where they are not prepopulated.
Can I delete or change prepopulated RA data?
You cannot delete it. The guide states that prepopulated information cannot be deleted from the return, and that where the details are incorrect you must contact the third party to rectify the data and resend it to SARS.
Can I reduce the number of policies SARS shows?
No. The guide states that the number of policies SARS has prepopulated cannot be changed to a lower number. The value can be increased if you have more policies to declare than SARS received.
What details does each policy line ask for?
For each policy, eFiling asks for the name of the fund, the policy number and the contributions made to the policy, as they appear on the certificate the institution issued.
How Do I Enter My IT3(f) on eFiling, Step by Step?
These steps follow the retirement annuity section of the ITR12 as the SARS guide describes it.
- Collect the certificates. Get the IT3(f) tax certificate for each retirement annuity policy from your fund, and your IRP5 or IT3(a) from your employer. Our list of documents needed to file your tax return covers the rest.
- Open the ITR12. Log in to eFiling, go to Returns and open the ITR12 for the year of assessment.
- Mark the retirement annuity question. On the return wizard, mark with an X that you or your employer contributed to a retirement annuity. This opens the Retirement Annuity Fund Contributions section.
- Read the prepopulated lines. Compare each prepopulated policy, its fund name, policy number and contribution with your IT3(f) certificates.
- Confirm the number of policies. In "To how many Retirement Annuity policy(ies) did you or your employer contribute during this year of assessment?", count every policy, including the one on your employee's tax certificate. Increase the number if a policy is missing.
- Complete any missing policy. Enter the name of the fund, the policy number and the contributions made for each policy that was not prepopulated.
- Check the 4006 total. eFiling calculates "Total contributions for this year assessment" (source code 4006) from the policy lines. Confirm it equals the total of your certificates, with each premium counted once.
- Review the calculation. Use the eFiling calculation before you submit, then check the retirement fund deduction on your ITA34 once the assessment is issued. Our ITA34 codes guide shows where it appears.
What If My IT3(f) Is Wrong or Missing?
The fund issued the data, so the fund corrects it. Ask the fund for a corrected certificate and for the corrected data to be resent to SARS, then file once the return reflects it.
My RA does not appear on the return at all
Complete the policy details from your certificate and increase the number of policies. The ITR12 guide states that you complete the applicable fields where they are not prepopulated.
The prepopulated amount is lower than my certificate
The prepopulated figure cannot be deleted, so the route is the fund. Ask it to resend corrected data to SARS. Keep the certificate and proof of payment, because SARS can ask for them in a verification.
I have already filed with the wrong amount
A request for correction on eFiling lets you submit a corrected version of a return you have already filed. Our guide to the ITR12 request for correction sets out the steps. If an assessment has been issued and you disagree with it, the dispute route is a notice of objection.
SARS selected my return for verification
Upload the IT3(f) certificate for each policy and proof of payment for any contributions you made directly. Our guide to SARS verification documents covers how to submit them.
How Long Must I Keep My IT3(f) Certificate?
The ITR12 guide states that you must retain proof of your retirement annuity contributions for five years after the date you submit your return. The certificate is that proof, together with bank records for contributions you paid yourself.
Do I upload it with every return?
No. You keep it and upload it when SARS asks for supporting documents, for example in a verification or an audit.
What about carried-forward contributions?
Keep the certificates for the years in which the excess arose. A carried-forward amount is deducted in a later year, so the proof behind it is needed for as long as SARS can query that later year.
What Are the Common Mistakes With the IT3(f)?
Most IT3(f) problems come from reading one document in isolation instead of setting the certificate, the IRP5 and the prepopulated return side by side.
- Counting an employer-paid premium twice. Where the fund certificate already includes premiums your employer paid, adding the IRP5 amount again overstates 4006.
- Using the annual statement figure. Fund values and growth are not contributions. Enter the tax year contribution from the tax certificate.
- Leaving out a second policy. Two policies with one fund are two lines. The Old Mutual example in the ITR12 guide shows how the split appears on a certificate.
- Claiming a spouse's policy. The guide states you may not claim contributions made for a third party.
- Trying to fix SARS data on the return. Prepopulated RA data cannot be deleted. The correction comes from the fund.
- Discarding the proof. Keep the certificate and proof of payment for five years after you submit the return.
- Confusing the medical IT3(f) with the RA IT3(f). Both carry the IT3(f) label in SARS's third party system, but the medical certificate supports the medical scheme fees tax credit, covered in our guide to code 4005 medical aid contributions.
How Does the IT3(f) Fit With Your Other Tax Certificates?
The IT3(f) is one of several certificates SARS receives directly from institutions and uses to prepopulate your return. Reading them together each filing season is the quickest way to find a gap before SARS does.
Which other IT3 certificates should I check?
Interest and dividends come on the IT3(b), gains and losses on financial instruments on the IT3(c), tax free investment contributions on the IT3(s), and trust vestings on the IT3(t).
How do retirement annuities fit into my wider plan?
The deduction depends on your combined contributions across all funds measured against the section 11F limit. Our guide to the tax benefits of retirement annuities sets out how the limit works across your funds.
Do You Need Help With Your IT3(f) Certificate?
If your IT3(f), your IRP5 and the prepopulated figures on eFiling do not agree, or your assessment did not give the retirement annuity deduction you expected, we reconcile the certificates, complete your ITR12 and deal with SARS for you. See our personal tax return plans, browse more personal tax guides, or contact us to get started.
