The SARS official: an evaluation of the rights and remedies of the taxpayer

Abstract

All decisions in the Tax Administration Act, no 28 of 2011 (“the TAA”), start and end with a decision taken by the SARS official.

An aggrieved taxpayer must almost always dispute a decision or finding made by the SARS official. However, section 102 of the TAA imposes a heavy evidentiary burden on the taxpayer, being the taxpayer’s onus. The TAA also allows the SARS official to base decisions on the barest of suspicions and in the absence of facts or evidence of tax delinquency or wrong doing.

This dissertation seeks to evaluate the powers of the SARS official, in particular insofar as it relates to the decision making process. The objective of the analysis is to identify those powers that transgress taxpayer rights and whether such powers survive Constitutional scrutiny in circumstances where South Africa has adopted accountability, the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution as values of its democracy. The dissertation also seeks to identify the taxpayer’s remedies in challenging unreasonable conduct of the SARS official and the unchecked abuse of State power and resources in collecting taxes for the fiscus.