Cape Town – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is expected to address the allegations regarding delays in tax refunds, offset refunds by using new assessment and has automatic stoppers that stop refund payments.
This information was revealed by the Parliament’s standing committee on Finance led by the SARS commissioner Tom Moyane told the members of Parliament on Tuesday.
“A perception has been created that in the current fiscal year SARS’ performance is on the basis of withholding tax refunds. Is that correct or not? There is a perception out there that SARS has withheld tax refunds. We need clarity so we can bury the issue,” Thandi Tobias-Pokolo a member of the committee who is also the member of the ANC told Moyane.
Tobias-Pokolo , also went on to say, “Also, there is a perception that SARS has offset the refunds that should have taken place in the current year for future years. We need clarity if that is the case.”
“If we are withholding refunds in order to prop up our collection target, that would be a mammoth task. We are not stopping every refund. We explained that we have refund problems, but at the same time the risk we have is to make sure every refund is due and the taxpayer is assessed through a process. At no point during my tenure have we used refunds to meet collection targets set,” said Moyane.
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