South African Revenue Service

Frankly, that's one thing we definitely need.

That's outside of SARS.

That's really the president's office and there's other parts of government, which I wish they would be more forthcoming the way the national treasury in SARS is.

All right.

So where does the current collection of taxes fit in the overall state of economy there?

And so there's a point we're going to break.

So what they're really trying to do, and you'll see it, some discussions now about the taxis, trying to hit people who are really hiding their wealth in cash, trying to deal with the government tenderpreneurs, all of that.

Where can we get the money, big money, which is simply not being disclosed? So SARS' biggest issue has been pushing for digitalization.

SABC News, independent and impartial.

South Africa's tax system is entering what SARS describes as a new era, driven by digitalization, data-driven compliance and technological innovation.

The discussion comes at a time when government is under pressure to strengthen revenue collection, restore fiscal confidence and create enough fiscal space to support sustainable economic reforms.

The South African Institute of Taxation, SAIT, the 12th annual tax endowment, will bring together tax practitioners, policy makers, academics and business leaders to examine these challenges.

With the SARS commissioner, Dr. Johnston Makubu, set to address the future of tax administration.

To unpack what this new era could mean for taxpayers, business and the broader economy, we're joined on the line by Professor Keith Engel, the CEO of the South African Institute of Taxation.

A very good morning to you, Professor, and welcome.

We have to get more from people who are not paying their fair share of taxes.

So the municipality did not challenge the award.

It applied to the SARS for a tax directive.

Now, SARS directed that $122,000 of that $300,000 be deducted from the award.

Because, yeah, you've got to pay SARS.

It's a pound of flesh, as per the Merchant of Venice.

So the municipality paid that amount to SARS and paid the balance of $176,000 to Tulo.

Now, this is quite amusing.

Tulo nevertheless insisted that the municipality remained liable for the amount deducted and caused a writ of execution to be issued.

So that's corporate complicity, global corporate complicity.

The then you get the management consultancies like Bain and company brought in to disable SARS To disable the South African tax agency South African Revenue Service.

That is terrible and blatant and criminal actually And of course they've had to close down their operation here and then there were other lawyers and accountants and auditors and financial Advisors who advised about setting up shell companies Then there are governments You know, London is still a source of a lot of lucid money.

Sure.

special liberation movements Zimbabwe notably I mean then the rulings on where PF parties never accepted a result when the opposition's won and So I think that's good.

The Constitution, in the end, is held.

And although Cyril Ramaphosa has been heavily criticized and has disappointed many people, he has actually appointed people, for example, to the South African Revenue Service that was deliberately disabled on advice from a global corporate Bainan company on how to do it under Zuma.

At least it's had a good head pointer that has got the agency working to collect taxes instead of letting the tax fraudsters off, as it was.

Thanks so much for taking the time.

Where do we start with international considerations around retirement? Is it not as simple as just having a retirement annuity or retirement policy in place and just declaring to SARS that you no longer live in the country?

Thanks for having me on the show.

So you're actually the situation for people that leave the country is actually quite complicated with regard to retirement savings.

So there's actually a special dispensation that people who formerly ceased to be South African tax resident with SARS are are able to actually cash in their retirement savings early.

So, you know, normally most of us who remain in our residence in the country have to wait till the age of 55 to be able to cash in most of our retirement annuities.

But if you emigrate and you formally cease your tax residency with SARS and spend three continuous years abroad, you're actually able to cash out your entire retirement savings at any age.

So that's a big advantage for people that leave because they can then go and reinvest that money overseas in foreign retirement plans that are more geared to their new tax environment.

Telecom fraud has exploded 307% as criminals increasingly turn to our phones and our trust against us.

SARS is getting tougher, faster and more aggressive and taxpayers need to sharpen up.

And the always-on executive culture is taking its toll and when the boss burns out, the whole business pays.

It's Monday, the 31st of August.

The South African Revenue Service is becoming tougher, more sophisticated and increasingly willing to fight taxpayers all the way to court.

Listen to this statistic, winning just over 80% of tax disputes that reached litigation in its last reported financial year.

So I imagine that begs the question, what do you do when SARS says you owe money and you believe the tax man is wrong? Well, let's discuss that now with Nico Teron, who is founder of Unicus Tax Specialists.

So, Nico, has the balance of power, do you think, in a tax dispute shifted too far in the favor of SARS?

And, you know, tax can be boring sometimes, but I found this one really fascinating reading.

It's Devland Cash and Carry versus Commissioner of SARS.

So Devland carried on business as a wholesaler of fast moving consumer goods.

Following audits, the SARS reassessed Devland's corporate income and tax liabilities at approximately $1.9 billion.

That's just so out of reach of our ordinary tax bills, including penalties and interest.

So Devland requested suspension of payment under Section 164 of the Tax Admin Act and, um, This clause declined the request and Devland instituted review proceedings.

Challenging that the decision and obtained interim relief for straining recovery of the disputed tax.

It later sought the Rule 53 record.

And over and above that, Ruwayne is going to be talking about filing season.

Oh, yes, the dreaded name SARS, South African Revenue Service.

And I must tell you, I'm looking forward to talking to Rewain because this is the first time in my life that I owe SARS.

And so I saw a little clip as well.

And my daughter sent that to me.

And that is filing season.

That is tax.

That is, did you submit your tax return to SARS? Now, Ruwayne, I must tell you, I really am so, so disappointed.

If the political parties are not stopped from interfering with the normal governance of institutions and municipalities, we're going to keep sa- having the same conversation over and over again.

Well, one department that certainly does not have a shortage of highly educated people is the South African Revenue Service, and they've just announced an impressive 167 million rand cocaine bust at O.R. Tambo Airport.

Yeah, look, I, I think it's, it's, it's known now that over the past number of years when our criminal justice system has been literally taken over by the criminal network, a lot of things were allowed to happen.

We don't know who's benefiting.