Here are some of our press releases for 2010

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Taxpayers’ Movement welcomes SARS’ openness to a tax ombudsman, but calls on the body for more clarity

The Taxpayers’ Movement has been vocal in its concerns regarding SARS’ proposed new collection system of attaching salaries and accessing bank accounts to satisfy outstanding taxes. In particular, this substantial exercise of power is open to abuse and needs to be carefully monitored by an independent and impartial tax ombudsman which would also serve as a means of recourse should taxpayers believe themselves to have been treated unfairly, especially where SARS error may arise.

In last week’s debate on eTV’s News Night Live, Vuyisa Qabaka (Spokesperson of the Taxpayers’ Movement) raised the issue of a tax ombudsman with Mark Kingon (SARS Group Executive), especially in light of the pending Tax Administration Bill.

SARS’ response to this stance, as stated by Mr Kingon, was that “We [SARS] are looking at the Tax Administration Bill and that [an ombudsman] is part of the discussion”. The Taxpayers’ Movement calls upon SARS to clarify what discussion is taking place and whether they will favour a proposal for an ombudsman.

In addition, another statement requires clarification. Mr Kingon noted that “There is no need for an ombudsman in this [attaching salaries and accessing bank accounts] process”.

It is deeply worrying that SARS does not feel it necessary to subject their officers and processes to impartial and independent examination when attaching people’s salaries and accessing bank accounts. If they have a legal and legitimate claim to such money and that the process is a lawful mechanism of collection then why does SARS oppose an ombudsman?

Furthermore, SARS should not believe that their officers are beyond human error; human error in these circumstances could be devastating for the taxpayer with little recourse other than the high court which in many cases is prohibitively costly to pursue.

There have been widespread calls for SARS to delineate clear guidelines and policies. An ombudsman solves all these problems by ensuring the legality of SARS procedures as well as an inexpensive forum for taxpayers to seek recourse.

Tax ombudsmen feature prominently in advanced democracies internationally and we call upon SARS to support this initiative in South Africa. If SARS is as confident of this proposed new system as Mr Kingon asserts then they have nothing to worry about.

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We have identified a huge need for a tax ombudsman, as there are in other countries (for example Australia and Canada)
This is an immediate need as we have nothing at the moment. We intend to lobby SARS, Treasury, and the public protector to this end.

An ombudsman is an independent official who is appointed to investigate the complaints that people make against public organisations. A tax ombudsman would deal with disputes arising between taxpayers and the tax authorities. It would provide redress to the taxpayers against harassment from maladministration, abuse of power, negligence, and corruption of the tax officials.
While we are not accusing SARS of abusing its power or the officials of being corrupt, we see this as an important step in ensuring good governance and maintaining constitutional rights. This campaign is the crux of taxpayer’s rights. It is common practice in major industries, such as banking and insurance, to have an independent regulator or ombudsman.

Service Monitoring Office (SMO) is hamstrung as a watchdog, because it is contained within SARS (The SARS Service Monitoring Office (SSMO) was launched in October 2002 as a channel for taxpayers to highlight areas where they do not receive the service they deserve. The SARS SMO is not a point of first call, but is a tool that can be used by aggrieved taxpayers who are not satisfied with the service provided to them at branch offices. These taxpayers will normally follow a threestep approach to arrive at the SARS SMO:

1. They will raise the issue with the person they have been dealing with or – if they prefer – that person’s immediate manager.

2. If the issue cannot be resolved, they will contact the relevant branch manager, who will objectively review the matter.

3. If the taxpayers are still not happy, they will refer the matter to the SARS SMO.)

On expenditure side, we are closely following the issue of World Cup tickets having been purchased with taxpayers’ money. We note that political parties and trade unions have lodged complaints with Treasury, and we are aware that Treasury  has referred the matter to the Auditor General. Accordingly we will be monitoring the outcome and whether due process was followed in and rectification sought.

We would like to see that the rest of government respect Treasury’s stance on this. If necessary, we will also take it up with the relevant authorities.