SARS audit a secret until MPs see it
The office of Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu confirmed that it signed off on the contentious financial statements of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) on Friday, clearing the way for its tabling in Parliament soon.
SARS has been in the news for the wrong reasons these past few weeks. Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba announced an inquiry into the “weakening tax morality” and the management of SARS, which President Jacob Zuma has approved. This was after SARS failed to meet its revenue collection targets.
“The audit report of the South African Revenue Service for the 2016-17 financial year has been finalised and signed off. As required by the Public Finance Management Act, the audit report will be tabled in Parliament as part of SARS’s annual report,” said the spokesman for Makwetu, Africa Boso.
However, neither the office of the auditor-general nor SARS will expand on whether the R30m bonus payment to the executive committee approved by Jonas Makwakwa would be reflected as irregular expenditure in the annual report, heightening the risk of a qualified audit finding.
“The auditor-general’s audit reports and their contents become public documents only after they have been tabled to the relevant legislative arm, in this case the legislative arm being Parliament,” said Boso.
SARS spokesman Sandile Memela was also tight-lipped on the audit outcomes included in SARS’s annual report for the 2016-17 financial year but said that the two entities had come to an agreement on the matter.
“The auditor-general and SARS have agreed in as far as the finalisation of SARS’s financials are concerned and SARS received the final audit report .... SARS can’t give comment at this stage,” said Memela. He said SARS would address the matter after it had briefed Parliament on its consolidated annual report.