Green light for Sars review

Tax ombud Judge Bernard Ngoepe confirmed yesterday he had obtained the approval of Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan to review the apparent multitude of delayed tax refunds.

“The approach to the minister was prompted by the number of complaints received by the tax ombud from taxpayers,” the statement issued by the ombud’s office said.

South African Institute of Tax Professionals (Sait) CEO Professor Keith Engel wondered if Sars’ risk engine was really going after risk, or was it simply seeing high value and complexity, all of which contributed to delayed payouts?

“That’s maybe where the issue is, because Sars is making it sound like all 11% [who were referred for an audit] must automatically be audited. Why?” he asked.

Engel said there was a feeling among the tax community and among Sait members that there was something “funny” going on. This had been going on for a long time.

“They believe it has grown worse, it supports their argument Sars is being pushed towards targets, like Pravin Gordhan’s complaint Sars was not meeting its targets.”

A Sars e-filing practitioner, who requested his name be withheld for fear of a Sars backlash, said there could be a number of reasons why Sars was not refunding people.

“They simply don’t have the money, they are completely inefficient and are neglecting their duties, or they are holding on to the money to boost their collection figures and will pay out after financial year end,” he said.

“In my opinion, it is probably a combination of all three. Some people have massive VAT refunds that they need to continue doing business.

“This action of Sars has led to some businesses having to close their doors.”

Sars said earlier this month it welcomed the review of its systems and promised its full cooperation with the ombud.