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Why is my Section 18A marked non-compliant — and how do I fix it to submit to SARS?

In short: A Section 18A certificate is marked non-compliant (the red No) when it's missing a donor detail SARS requires. Open the certificate, click Edit Certificate, fill in the highlighted field, and save — it turns compliant (green) and can then be included in your IT3(d) file for SARS.

What "non-compliant" means

ActiveDonor runs a compliance check on every certificate against the details SARS demands. When a detail is missing or malformed, the certificate is flagged — shown as the red No, non-compliant, or a Compliance Check Failed notice listing the problem field(s). Until it's fixed, the certificate won't submit and is held back from the IT3(d) so it can't be rejected by SARS.

The items SARS requires on every certificate are:

  • Tax number — the donor's 10-digit SARS income-tax reference.
  • ID / registration number — an SA ID for individuals, or a company/CC/trust registration number for entities.
  • Recipient address (line 1) and post code.
  • Date of birth — for individual donors (passport/foreign donors enter it as CCYY-MM-DD).
  • A recognised donor type (not a blank or generic "Entity").

For a Goods in Kind (in-kind) donation, three more fields are required, and a blank one makes the certificate non-compliant:

  • A Description of the goods donated.
  • The Condition of the goods.
  • The Valued As basis (how the goods were valued).

How to fix it

  1. Open the Section 18A certificate showing the red No / Compliance Check Failed message.
  2. Click Edit Certificate.
  3. Fill in the highlighted field(s) the compliance error names (for example the tax number, ID/registration number, address, post code or date of birth).
  4. Click Save.

The certificate re-runs the check and turns compliant (green). You can now include it when you generate the IT3(d) file for SARS.

📌 Note: If the certificate has already been submitted to SARS, the Edit Certificate button is disabled. Correct that one by revoking it and re-issuing a new certificate instead.

Common issues & solutions

What you see What it means How to fix it
Compliance Check Failed with a list of fields One or more SARS-required details are missing Edit the certificate, fill the listed fields, save
Date of birth field is required An individual donor has no date of birth (often passport/foreign) Enter the date of birth as CCYY-MM-DD
The Edit Certificate button is greyed out The certificate is already with SARS Revoke it and re-issue a new one
Please select the condition of the goods donated. / Please select the valuation basis for the goods donated. A Goods in Kind certificate has a blank Condition or Valued As Edit the certificate and fill the Condition and Valued As fields (and a Description), then save
A description is required for Goods In Kind or Other Donations. A goods/other donation has no description Edit the certificate and add a Description of the goods
  • Section 18A eligibility and required donor tax details