In the landscape of modern tax administration, the principle that the burden of proof rests on the taxpayer is a fundamental tenet. This principle dictates that it is the taxpayer’s responsibility to substantiate their tax positions, despite the significant disparity in available resources between individual taxpayers and the government. While this framework aims to ensure…
In a case heard by the High Court[1] recently, one of the issues considered was the meaning of the term “grounds for assessment” for the purposes of section 42(2)(b) of the Tax Administration Act, 28 of 2011 (“the TAA”). Background The background to this issue is briefly that SARS issued a notice to the taxpayer…
The fact that SARS is conducting lifestyle audits has been well-publicised. These audits, like many other “normal” audits, often result in SARS raising either an estimated assessment or an additional assessment. Based on what we have seen thus far, these assessments (whether additional or estimated), in our view, often overstate the actual tax liability…
Imagine SARS is conducting an audit on a company for the most recent year of assessment. The company has a loan payable to a shareholder which originated in the 1980’s. SARS decides to extend the scope of the audit to the shareholder in order to establish whether the amount of money lent to the company…
Based on the latest report released by STATS SA, the South African economy has moved into recession with a reported decrease of 0.7% in GDP during the first quarter of 2017. The bad economic climate impacts SARS’ revenue collection and is without a doubt a contributor to the recent increase in tax audits and additional…
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