When SARS oversteps, how can taxpayers fight back?
Complex legislation, estimated assessments, and collection measures can leave individuals and smaller businesses struggling to challenge SARS effectively.
#TaxAdministrationAct
Bank freeze and SARS recovery powers converge in VAT fraud case
The judgment considered Bidvest’s contractual authority to suspend the account separately from SARS’s subsequent use of section 179 of the Tax Administration Act.
Lawyers urge caution on Tax Court’s eFiling fraud ruling
Two aspects of the judgment could have wider implications in future cases involving credible claims of unauthorised access.
Trust filing season: Key dates and requirements for the 2026 returns
The enhanced ITR12T will draw on third-party data, while SARS steps up scrutiny of nil returns, passive assets, and assessed losses.
Can a tax deduction be claimed a decade late?
A fuel exporter lost a R38.8-million deduction claim, but the Tax Court ruling may open a fresh battle over whether the correct tax years can still be re-opened.
Taxpayers may use non-lawyer representatives, SCA rules
The judgment confirms that the Tax Administration Act and Tax Court Rules do not restrict appearances to admitted legal practitioners.
Tax amendments materially narrow understatement penalty defence
The bona fide inadvertent error defence is limited to substantial understatements, but there is relief for taxpayers seeking to challenge estimated assessments.
SARS warns rogue staff: resigning won’t save you
SARS has frozen the assets of former officials, signalling that employees who betray the institution will be held accountable – even after they leave.
Court halts SARS’s ‘pay now, argue later’ rule in R531m tax battle
The judgment clarifies that when a taxpayer offers over-collateralised security and SARS cannot explain real risk, suspension should follow.
Open letter to Kieswetter highlights rising taxpayer frustration
The Office of the Tax Ombud is seeing the same delays, verification snags, and procedural irregularities highlighted by a tax practitioner.
Court tells SARS: A deal is a deal
A High Court ruling confirms that SARS must honour lawful settlement agreements and cannot rely on internal systems or administrative hurdles to escape binding terms.
ConCourt judgment widens High Court’s jurisdiction in tax cases
The Court replaces the restrictive ‘exceptional circumstances’ test with a flexible ‘good cause’ standard, creating new forum-choice opportunities.
SARS launches expedited tax-debt compromise process
SARS will negotiate compromises only where liability is undisputed and both parties agree the taxpayer cannot pay in full.
Tax Ombud’s 10 top refunds total R167m
Requiring SARS to provide written reasons when it rejects the OTO’s recommendations has resulted in an increase in the resolution of complaints.
What ‘capital’ could be in a CIS capital distribution
A proposed amendment to the Income Tax Act will tax unit trust investors on capital distributions before disposals, without any base cost offset.
Draft Bill hides a ‘stealth tax’ in your unit trust investments
Proposed amendments could undermine the tax-efficient compounding that makes a collective investment scheme an attractive investment vehicle.
Draft amendments narrow taxpayers’ ‘bona fide inadvertent error’ defence
The proposal restricts the ‘bona fide inadvertent error’ defence under the understatement penalty regime to cases where the tax shortfall is a ‘substantial understatement’.
