The relationship management function is responsible for the coordination and facilitation of all interactions between large business taxpayers and relevant functions across SARS Relationship Management function is responsible for the coordination and facilitation of all interactions between the large taxpayers and SARS. There are dedicated taxpayer relationship managers whose responsibility is to act as a primary point of contact for taxpayers for their service and compliance needs.
Taxpayer inclusion criteria/definition
Below is the qualification criteria for taxpayer to be classified as Large Business:
- Groups / Companies with turnover greater than R1 billion
- All Stock Exchange Listed Groups / Companies
- All Multinational Enterprises (including all Foreign Electronic Service Providers/ eCommerce)
- Financial Services Groups / Companies with turnover greater than R500 million
- Mining Groups / Companies with turnover greater than R500 million
Classification of Taxpayer Groups
The taxpayer groups managed by the LBI are classified into into three major economic groups, which represent the nine Standard Industry Classification codes, namely:
- Primary Cluster (Mining and Quarrying; Forestry and Fishing; Agriculture and State Owned Companies)
- Secondary Cluster (Manufacturing; Electricity, gas and water supply, Construction, Wholesale and retail trade)
- Tertiary Cluster (Transport, storage and communication, Financial intermediation, real estate and business services; Community, social and personal services).
Each cluster has the following dedicated personnel:
- Senior Manager has the overall responsibility for the operations of the clusters and will familiarise themselves with taxpayers burning issues.
- Relationship Managers who are the custodian for the taxpayer relationships and act as a primary point of contact for all taxpayer interactions with SARS.
The above officials are supported by a group of Operations Managers, who are responsible for the management of query resolution process, and have a team of the Consultants and Service Agents, whose primary responsibility is to resolve all taxpayer service queries.
Key activities of Relationship Management function
The responsibility of Relationship Management is to assist taxpayers to comply with their statutory obligations in the most efficient and effective manner through providing clarity and certainty to traders and taxpayers for their obligations and ensure delivery of a superior and differentiated service based on each taxpayer’s needs by making it easier for the traders and taxpayers to comply.
The single point of contact for the taxpayer facilitates a more efficient service and permits regular interaction with a view to:
- Obtaining a better understanding of the taxpayer’s business and the risk factors affecting compliance.
- Informing taxpayers of any system/process developments and the impact thereof.
- Discussing the progress of any current issues/disputes with specialists and senior managers.
- Planning the logistics of all interactions with taxpayers.
- Holding regular taxpayer education interventions with a view to alerting taxpayers to the implications of SARS modernisation agenda initiatives.
- Providing taxpayers with training on eFiling/e@syFile and other SARS systems as well as facilitating the effective use of these systems.
- Alerting taxpayers to new systems/processes introduced by SARS.
- Improving voluntary tax compliance.
Query resolution for Large Business & International segment
Please take note of the following Large Business & International (LBI) query management process:
1. All queries should be directed to the LBI Query System via the SARS Website (LBI Online Query System) , and where applicable, attach all the relevant supporting documentation.
2. All queries will be automatically acknowledged, and the taxpayer will receive the case number immediately.
3. The operational manager will then allocate the queries received to the available consultant, who has the responsibility to resolve the query and communicate outcome.
4. The consultant must provide regular feedback (at least weekly) to the taxpayer until the query is resolved.
Escalation process for Large Business
SARS (LBI) will endeavour to resolve all queries upon receipt within the SARS Service Charter or agreed turnaround times and if not, regular feedback will be provided to taxpayer. In an event that we fail to meet the Service Charter or any agreed turnaround times, or you are dissatisfied with our service delivery; you advised to immediately escalate the matter to your dedicated relationship manager as the first level for all escalations. If still unsatisfied, you must escalate to the following SARS officials:
Note: Kindly contact any of the three senior managers if you are unsure who is your relationship manager.
- Second level: Senior Manager of the Relationship Manager
- Antony Cohen ([email protected]) – JHB, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal (Primary Cluster – Mining and Quarrying, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; and State-Owned Entities)
- Ms. Phokoane Mathebula ([email protected]) – JHB, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal – (Secondary and Tertiary Clusters – Manufacturing; Electricity, gas and water supply, Construction, Wholesale and retail trade, Transport, storage and communication, Financial intermediation, real estate and business services; Community, social and personal services, and all diversified groups)
- Third Level: Vincent Sibande, Business Area Head: Relationship Management and Account Maintenance ([email protected])
When escalating an unresolved query, you are requested to ensure that the turnaround time has expired. Please share the name of the SARS official together with all or at least the latest correspondence with the SARS official you dealt with.
If all fails, please feel free to lodge an official complaint via SARS eFiling (CMO), or if all process exhausted including the CMO, then lodge a complaint with the Office of Tax Ombudsman (OTO).
