Category: Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011

Section 135 (TAA) – Leave to appeal Supreme Court of Appeal against tax court decision

Posted on by admin_kmos

135.    Leave to appeal to Supreme Court of Appeal against tax court decision

(1)     If an intending appellant wishes to appeal against a decision of the tax court to the Supreme Court of Appeal, the ‘registrar’ must submit the notice of intention to appeal lodged under section 134(1) to the president of the tax court, who must make an order granting or refusing leave to appeal having regard to the grounds of the intended appeal as indicated in the notice.

(2)     If the president of the tax court cannot act in that capacity or it is inconvenient for the president to act in that capacity for purposes of this section, the Judge-President of the relevant Division of the High Court may nominate and second another judge or acting judge to act as president of the tax court for that purpose.

(3)     Subject to leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal in terms of section 17 of the Superior Courts Act, 2013 (Act No. 10 of 2013), an order made by the president of the tax court under subsection (1) is final.

[Subsection (3) substituted by section 54 of Act 23 of 2015 effective on 8 January 2016]

Section 148 (TAA) – Finality of settlement agreement

Posted on by admin_kmos

148.    Finality of settlement agreement

 

(1)     The settlement agreement represents the final agreed position between the parties and is in full and final ‘settlement’ of all or the specified aspects of the ‘dispute’ in question between the parties.

 

(2)     SARS must adhere to the terms of the agreement, unless material facts were not disclosed as required by section 147(1) or there was fraud or misrepresentation of the facts.

 

(3)     If the person concerned fails to pay the amount due pursuant to the agreement or otherwise fails to adhere to the agreement, a senior SARS official may-

 

(a)     regard the agreement as void and proceed with the matter in respect of the original disputed amount; or

 

(b)     enforce collection of the ‘settlement’ amount under the collection provisions of this Act in full and final ‘settlement’ of the ‘dispute’.

Section 136 (TAA) – Failure to lodge notice of intention to appeal tax court decision

Posted on by admin_kmos

136.    Failure to lodge notice of intention to appeal tax court decision

 

(1)     A person entitled to appeal against a decision of the tax court, who has not lodged a notice of intention to appeal within the time and in the manner required by section 134, abandons, subject to any right to note a cross appeal, the right of appeal against the decision.

 

(2)     A person who under section 134 lodged a notice of intention to appeal against a decision of the tax court but who has subsequently withdrawn the notice, abandons the right to note an appeal or cross-appeal against the decision.

Section 149 (TAA) – Register of settlements and reporting

Posted on by admin_kmos

149.    Register of settlements and reporting

(1)     SARS must-

(a)     maintain a register of all ‘disputes’ that are ‘settled’ under this Part; and

(b)     document the process under which each ‘dispute’ is ‘settled’.

(2)     The Commissioner must provide an annual summary of ‘settlements’ to the Auditor-General and to the Minister.

(3)     The summary referred to in subsection (2) must be submitted by no later than the date on which the annual report for SARS is submitted to Parliament for the year and must-

(a)     be in a format which, subject to section 70(6), does not disclose the identity of the person concerned; and

[Paragraph (a) substituted by section 21 of Act 21 of 2021]

(b)     contain details, arranged by main classes of taxpayers or sections of the public, of the number of ‘settlements’, the amount of tax forgone, and the estimated savings in litigation costs.

Section 137 (TAA) – Notice by registrar of period for appeal of tax court decision

Posted on by admin_kmos

137.    Notice by registrar of period for appeal of tax court decision

 

(1)     After the expiry of the time allowed under section 134(1) for the lodging of a notice of intention to appeal, the ‘registrar’ must-

 

(a)     give notice to a person who has lodged a notice of intention to appeal which has not been withdrawn, that if the person decides to appeal, the appeal must be noted within 21 business days after the date of the ‘registrar’s’ notice; and

 

(b)     supply to the person referred to in paragraph (a) a certified copy of an order that the president of the tax court made under section 135 which is the subject of the intended appeal.

 

(2)     The ‘registrar’ may not give notice under subsection (1)(a) until the order has been made or the transcript has been completed if-

 

(a)     it appears that the president of the tax court will make an order under section 135; or

 

(b)     an intending appellant requires a transcript of evidence given at the hearing of the case by the tax court as envisaged in section 134(2)(c).

 

(3)     If the opposite party is not also an intending appellant in the same case, the ‘registrar’ must provide to the opposite party copies of the notice and any order referred to in subsection (1)(a) and (b).

Section 150 (TAA) – Alteration of assessment or decision on settlement

Posted on by admin_kmos

150.    Alteration of assessment or decision on settlement

 

(1)     If a ‘dispute’ between SARS and the person aggrieved by an assessment or ‘decision’ is ‘settled’ under this Part, SARS may, despite anything to the contrary contained in a tax Act, alter the assessment or ‘decision’ to give effect to the ‘settlement’.

 

(2)     An altered assessment or ‘decision’ referred to in subsection (1) is not subject to objection and appeal.

Section 138 (TAA) – Notice of appeal to Supreme Court of Appeal against tax court decision

Posted on by admin_kmos

138.    Notice of appeal to Supreme Court of Appeal against tax court decision

 

(1)     If a person has-

 

(a)     appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal from a court established under section 118(5);

 

(b)     been granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal under section 135; or

 

(c)     successfully petitioned to the Supreme Court of Appeal for leave to appeal,

 

the appeal which a party must note against a decision given in the relevant case must be noted to that Court.

 

(2)     If the notice of intention to appeal was noted to the High Court or leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal has been refused under section 135, the party who lodged the notice of intention to appeal must note an appeal to the appropriate Provincial Division of the High Court.

 

(3)     The notice of appeal must be lodged within the period referred to in section 137(1)(a) or within a longer period as may be allowed under the rules of the court to which the appeal is noted.

 

(4)     A notice of appeal must be in accordance with the requirements in the rules of the relevant higher court.

Section 139 (TAA) – Notice of cross-appeal of tax court decision

Posted on by admin_kmos

139.    Notice of cross-appeal of tax court decision

(1)     A cross­appeal against a decision of the tax court in a case in which an appeal has been lodged under section 138, must be noted by lodging a written notice of cross­ appeal with the ‘registrar’, serving it upon the opposite party or the opposite party’s legal practitioner and lodging it with the registrar of the court to which the cross­appeal is noted.

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 37 of Act 33 of 2019]

(2)     The notice of cross-appeal must be lodged within 21 business days after the date the appeal is noted under section 138 or within a longer period as may be allowed under the rules of the court to which the cross-appeal is noted.

(3)     A notice of cross-appeal must state-

(a)     whether the whole or only part of the judgment is appealed against, and if a part, which part;

(b)     the grounds of cross-appeal specifying the findings of fact or rulings of law appealed against; and

(c)     any further particulars that may be required under the rules of the court to which the cross-appeal is noted.