“this Act” includes the regulations and a public notice issued under this Act;
Category: Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011
Section 6 (TAA) – Powers and duties
6. Powers and duties
(1) The powers and duties of SARS under this Act may be exercised for purposes of the administration of a tax Act.
(2) Powers and duties which are assigned to the Commissioner by this Act must be exercised by the Commissioner personally but he or she may delegate such powers and duties in accordance with section 10.
(3) Powers and duties required by this Act to be exercised by a senior SARS official must be exercised by-
(a) the Commissioner;
(b) a SARS official who has specific written authority from the Commissioner to do so; or
(c) a SARS official occupying a post designated by the Commissioner in writing for this purpose.
(4) The execution of a task ancillary to a power or duty under subsection (2) or (3) may be done by a SARS official under the control of an official referred to in subsection (3)(a), (b) or (c).
[Subsection (4) amended by section 38 of Act 21 of 2012 effective on 1 October 2012, substituted by section 35 of Act 23 of 2015 effective on 8 January 2016]
(5) Powers and duties not specifically required by this Act to be exercised by the Commissioner or by a senior SARS official, may be exercised by a SARS official.
(6) The Commissioner may by public notice specify that a power or duty in a tax Act other than this Act must be exercised by the Commissioner personally or a senior SARS official.
Section 18 (TAA) – Review of complaint
18. Review of complaint
(1) The Tax Ombud may review any issue within the Tax Ombud’s mandate on receipt of a request from a taxpayer.
(2) The Tax Ombud may-
(a) determine how a review is to be conducted; and
(b) determine whether a review should be terminated before completion.
(3) In exercising the discretion set out in subsection (2), the Tax Ombud must consider such factors as-
(a) the age of the request or issue;
(b) the amount of time that has elapsed since the requester became aware of the issue;
(c) the nature and seriousness of the issue;
(d) the question of whether the request was made in good faith; and
(e) the findings of other redress mechanisms with respect to the request.
(4) The Tax Ombud may only review a request if the requester has exhausted the available complaints resolution mechanisms in SARS, unless there are compelling circumstances for not doing so.
(5) To determine whether there are compelling circumstances, the Tax Ombud must consider factors such as whether-
(a) the request raises systemic issues;
(b) exhausting the complaints resolution mechanisms will cause undue hardship to the requester; or
(c) exhausting the complaints resolution mechanisms is unlikely to produce a result within a period of time that the Tax Ombud considers reasonable.
(6) The Tax Ombud must inform the requester of the results of the review or any action taken in response to the request, but at the time and in the manner chosen by the Tax Ombud.
“Shareholder” definition of TAA
“shareholder” means a person who holds a beneficial interest in a company as defined in the Income Tax Act;
“Transfer Duty Act” definition of TAA
“Transfer Duty Act” means the Transfer Duty Act, 1949 (Act No. 40 of 1949);
Section 7 (TAA) – Conflict of interest
7. Conflict of interest
The Commissioner or a SARS official may not exercise a power or become involved in a matter pertaining to the administration of a tax Act, if-
(a) the power or matter relates to a taxpayer in respect of which the Commissioner or the official has or had, in the previous three years, a personal, family, social, business, professional, employment or financial relationship presenting a conflict of interest; or
(b) other circumstances present a conflict of interest,
that will reasonably be regarded as giving rise to bias.
Section 19 (TAA) – Reports by Tax Ombud
19. Reports by Tax Ombud
(1) The Tax Ombud must-
(a) report directly to the Minister;
(b) submit an annual report to the Minister within five months of the end of SARS’ financial year; and
(c) submit a report to the Commissioner quarterly or at such other intervals as may be agreed.
(2) The reports must-
(a) contain a summary of at least ten of the most serious issues encountered by taxpayers and identified systemic and emerging issues referred to in section 16(2)f), including a description of the nature of the issues;
(b) contain an inventory of the issues described in subparagraph (a) for which-
(i) action has been taken and the result of such action;
(ii) action remains to be completed and the period during which each item has remained on such inventory; or
(iii) no action has been taken, the period during which each item has remained on such inventory and the reasons for the inaction; and
(c) contain recommendations for such administrative action as may be appropriate to resolve problems encountered by taxpayers.
(3) The Minister must table the annual report of the Tax Ombud in the National Assembly.
“Skills Development Levies Act” definition of TAA
“Skills Development Levies Act” means the Skills Development Levies Act, 1999 (Act No. 9 of 1999);
“Understatement penalty” definition of TAA
“understatement penalty” means a penalty imposed by SARS in accordance with Part A of Chapter 16;
Section 8 (TAA) – Identity cards
8. Identity cards
(1) SARS may issue an identity card to each SARS official exercising powers and duties for purposes of the administration of a tax Act.
(2) When a SARS official exercises a power or duty for purposes of the administration of a tax Act in person outside SARS premises, the official must produce the identity card upon request by a member of the public.
(3) If the official does not produce the identity card, a member of the public is entitled to assume that the person is not a SARS official.