3 July 2015 – SARS Customs foils attempted smuggling of R4 million ivory at ORTIA
Pretoria, 3 JULY 2015 – SARS Customs officials yesterday discovered 267 kilograms of ivory while conducting inspections at the cargo area at OR Tambo International airport. The ivory which was destined for Vietnam from Zimbabwe is estimated to have a street value of R4 million, which is one of the biggest interceptions by SARS of smuggled […]
7 July 2015 – Record cocaine bust at OR Tambo International Airport
Pretoria, 7 July 2015 – Customs officials confiscated more than R7 million worth of cocaine in a bag at OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) yesterday (6 July 2015). The 26.48 kg of cocaine is believed to be amongst the biggest cocaine busts ever at ORTIA. The luggage and all its contents were inspected after the airline […]
9 July 2015 -South Africans with accounts and investments in foreign tax jurisdictions
Pretoria, 09 July 2015 – The purpose of this media statement is to provide an update on the progress made by SARS on work done on foreign bank accounts held by South African residents and to provide such residents an opportunity until 12 August 2015, to approach SARS via its Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP) to regularise […]
12 July 2015 – Record amount of undeclared sneakers seized at Lebombo
Pretoria, 12 July 2015 – Customs officials confiscated undeclared sneakers with an estimated street value of R11.3 million at the Lebombo border post on Thursday, 9 July 2015. This is the largest bust, with the highest value ever seized at the Lebombo border post. Approximately 14 167 pairs of branded sneakers, potentially counterfeit, destined for the […]
17 July 2015 – SARS convenes cross-border forum on illicit financial flows
Pretoria, 17 July 2015 – The South African Revenue Services (SARS) has convened a forum of commissioners from bordering countries, including Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa to deliberate on core tax and customs issues, and focus areas linked to illicit financial flows, base erosion and profit sharing, transfer pricing and cross-border enforcement, to […]
20 July 2015 – Massive busts of Viagra, Mandrax and Cocaine by SARS Customs
Pretoria, 20 July 2015 – In just under one week, SARS Customs has uncovered massive amounts of Viagra, Mandrax and Cocaine in four separate busts with an estimated total value of R48.8 million. Last night (19 July 2015), a member of the Lebombo detector dog unit discovered R3 million worth of Mandrax hidden in a truck […]
21 July 2015 – One million Income Tax returns have been submitted
Pretoria, 21 July 2015 — The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is pleased to confirm that by 13:00 yesterday (20 July 2015) it had passed the 1 million mark with respect to income tax returns submitted by taxpayers. This is encouraging and an important compliance measure for SARS as it indicates that 23.07% of taxpayers who […]
22 July 2015 – SARS Commissioner launches Customs cargo scanner at Cape Town Harbour
Pretoria, 22 July 2015 – As part of efforts by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) to combat illicit trade activities, a new high-technology cargo container scanner was officially launched at Cape Town Harbour today, by SARS Commissioner, Mr Tom Moyane. The scanner is the second of its kind to be acquired by SARS Customs in its […]
23 July 2015 SARS issues stern warning to merchants in the fast moving cash goods (FMG) industries
Pretoria, 23 July 2015 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has identified extensive non-compliance within the formal and informal cash merchants environment, which includes merchants in the FMCG wholesale and retail industry. Following various investigations SARS has identified 295 Cash and Carry entities that displayed the following non-compliant behaviour: Customs fraud, Tax evasion, Claiming of […]
27 July 2015 – SARS and SAPS confiscate over R2m worth of suspected stolen alcohol
Pretoria, 27 July 2015 – South African Revenue Service (SARS) officials and members of the SA Police Service (SAPS) discovered 14 000 boxes of illegal alcohol at a bottle store in Pretoria’s Marabastad area on Friday 24 July. Despite initial denials by the owner of the bottle store that any alcohol was stored in the backyard, […]
