01 October 2013 – Minister’s Statement on Tax Ombud

The Minister of Finance has appointed retired Gauteng Judge President Bernard Ngoepe as the Tax Ombud. The appointment is in terms of the Tax Administration Act of 2011. The office is intended to provide taxpayers with a low-cost mechanism to address administrative difficulties that cannot be resolved by the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

23 August 2013 – Combating Illicit Trade in Clothing and Textiles

SARS considers these as strategic economic sectors that require significant attention given its potential to create jobs and grow the domestic economy. Government has introduced incentive schemes (production incentives will be increasingly grant-based, thus reducing reliance on tax incentives) to boost manufacturing capacity and support job creation.

14 August 2013 – Two Million Tax Returns submitted

By 09:00 this morning the South African Revenue Service (SARS) had received over 2 million (2,000,126) income tax returns for the 2013 Tax Season. This compares favourably with the 1,840,834 returns submitted in the same period last year.

08 August 2013 – Customs Bills submitted to Parliament

The Customs Bills, after having undergone an extensive consultation process, have now been submitted to Parliament. One of the major aims of the Bills is to create a balance between customs control and trade facilitation. As part of the overall policy review to achieve this aim, SARS reviewed its current policy of allowing goods to move on the basis of a manifest to inland terminals such as City Deep.

2 August 2013 – SARS Media Release – Responding to Mr JS Malema

On 27 June 2013 counsel for the South African Revenue Service (SARS), addressed a letter to Mr Julius Malema and his legal representative, cautioning Mr Malema to refrain from making false public statements about the state of his tax affairs and his engagements with SARS.