SARS MAKES MISTAKE

So why does this have to be reported by someone other than SARS. If SARS was aware of the problem, surely the public should have been advised! This is absolutely disgraceful, please check your returns people!

February 01 2007 at 07:24AM
By Barry Bateman

Thousands of provisional taxpayers in the city have been slapped with penalties amounting to millions of rand by mistake. But the South African Revenue Service (Sars) says the problem has been picked up and is being addressed.Auditor Suzan Venter approached the Pretoria News earlier this week after receiving dozens of her clients' tax assessments with additional tax added for alleged "late payment" of provisional taxes. "Our clients who pay provisional tax have had additional tax added despite handing in their forms on time. "Provisional tax is paid in February and August and the forms must be handed in by the end of each of those months," she said.

Venter explained that people who received a business income, were members of a CC, trust or a director, paid provisional tax. "We have about 2 700 clients, of whom 1 800 pay provisional tax. In the past month we have received dozens of assessments with penalties."Now I have to send another form to Sars proving that the client did pay before the deadline. "My concern is that many people with their own businesses who don't have an auditor to look after them, end up paying because they are scared of Sars. Sars is getting a lot of money that does not belong to it," she said. Venter showed a form of one of her clients in which R383 925.08 in additional tax had been added. Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay said they were aware of the problem, which arose at branch office level. "In a small number of instances the stamp date on provisional tax returns, the date on which the taxpayer submitted the return to Sars, and the date on which the return was registered on the Sars system, do not correspond. "This has resulted in additional tax or penalties unduly being charged to taxpayers. These problems, when identified, are corrected by Sars. "Provided that the returns were in fact submitted timeously, these taxpayers will not be expected to pay these charges," he said.

Lackay said Sars's view was that while "these human errors are always regrettable, and we go to great lengths to reduce the probability of such incidences, in this particular instance a relatively small number of returns were affected". "We regret the error and assure taxpayers that these instances will not detract from the organisation's commitment to provide good, efficient service to all taxpayers," he said.Should anyone have any queries they should call the Sars hotline on 0860 12 12 18.
This article was originally published on page 2 of Pretoria News on February 01, 2007