258. New taxpayer reference number
If a person has been allocated a taxpayer, tax or other reference number for purposes of a tax Act before the promulgation of this Act, the number remains in force until the time that SARS allocates a taxpayer reference number to the person under section 24 for purposes of the relevant tax type.
CHAPTER 17
CRIMINAL OFFENCES
244. Deadlines
(1) If-
(a) a day notified by SARS or specified in a tax Act for payment, submission or other action; or
(b) the last day of a period within which payment, submission or other action under a tax Act must be made,
falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the action must be done not later than the last business day before the Saturday, Sunday or public holiday.
(2) The Commissioner may prescribe the time of day by which a payment, submission or other action must be done, and if it is done after that time on the day it is regarded as done on the first business day following the specified day.
(3) If SARS is authorised to extend a deadline, the application for extension must be submitted to SARS in the prescribed form before the deadline expires unless-
(a) reasonable grounds exist for the delay and the application is submitted within 21 business days of the deadline; or
(b) the delay is due to a circumstance referred to in section 218(2)(a) to (e) or any other circumstance of analogous seriousness and the application is submitted within three years of the deadline.
259. Appointment of Tax Ombud
(1) The Minister must appoint a person as Tax Ombud under section 14 within one year of the commencement date of this Act.
(2) The first Tax Ombud appointed under this Act may not review a matter that arose more than one year before the day on which the Tax Ombud is appointed, unless the Minister requests the Tax Ombud to do so.
234 Criminal offences relating to non-compliance with tax Acts
(1) Any person who wilfully-
(a) submits a false certificate or statement under Chapter 4;
(b) issues an erroneous, incomplete or false document required to be issued under a tax Act to SARS or another person;
(c) fails to-
(i) reply to or answer truly and fully any questions put to the person by a SARS official, as and when required in terms of this Act; or
(ii) take an oath or make a solemn declaration as and when required in terms of this Act;
(d) obstructs or hinders a SARS official in the discharge of the official’s duties;
(e) refuses to give assistance required under section 49(1);
(f) holds himself or herself out as a SARS official engaged in carrying out the provisions of this Act; or
(g) dissipates that person’s assets or assists another person to dissipate that other person’s assets in order to impede the collection of any taxes, penalties or interest,
is guilty of an offence and is liable, upon conviction, to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.
(2) Any person who wilfully or negligently fails to-
(a) register or notify SARS of a change in registered particulars as required in Chapter 3;
(b) appoint a representative taxpayer or notify SARS of the appointment or change of a representative taxpayer as required under section 153 or 249;
(c) register as a tax practitioner as required under section 240;
(d) submit a return or document to SARS or issue a document to a person as required under a tax Act;
(e) retain records as required under a tax Act;
(f) furnish, produce or make available any information, document or thing, excluding information requested under section 46(8), as and when required under this Act;
(g) attend and give evidence, as and when required under this Act;
(h) comply with a directive or instruction issued by SARS to the person under a tax Act;
(i) disclose to SARS any material facts which should have been disclosed under a tax Act or to notify SARS of anything which the person is required to so notify SARS of under a tax Act;
(j) comply with the provisions of sections 179 to 182, if that person was given notice by SARS to transfer the assets or pay the amounts to SARS as referred to in those sections; or
(k) in the event where that person becomes liable to make a payment for withholding any tax, deduct or withhold or pay to SARS the amount of tax, as and when required under a tax Act,
is guilty of an offence and is liable, upon conviction, to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.
[Section 234 amended by section 77(a) and (b) of Act 21 of 2012 and by section 43 of Act 33 of 2019 and substituted by section 35 of Act 24 of 2020]
245. Power of Minister to determine date for submission of returns and payment of tax
(1) Despite any other provision of a tax Act, if the date for the submission of a return or the payment of tax is the last day of the financial year of the Government, the Minister may by public notice prescribe any other date for submission of the return and payment of the tax, which date must not fall on a day more than two business days prior to the last day of that year.
(2) The notice contemplated in subsection (1) must be published at least 21 business days prior to the date so prescribed by the Minister.
260. Provisions relating to secrecy
A person who took and subscribed to an oath or solemn declaration of secrecy under a tax Act before the commencement date of this Act is regarded as having taken and subscribed to the oath or solemn declaration under section 67(2).
235. Evasion of tax and obtaining undue refunds by fraud or theft
(1) A person who with intent to evade or to assist another person to evade tax or to obtain an undue refund under a tax Act-
(a) makes or causes or allows to be made any false statement or entry in a return or other document, or signs a statement, return or other document so submitted without reasonable grounds for believing the same to be true;
(b) gives a false answer, whether orally or in writing, to a request for information made under this Act;
(c) prepares, maintains or authorises the preparation or maintenance of false books of account or other records or falsifies or authorises the falsification of books of account or other records;
(d) makes use of, or authorises the use of, fraud or contrivance; or
(e) makes any false statement for the purposes of obtaining any refund of or exemption from tax,
is guilty of an offence and, upon conviction, is subject to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.
(2) Any person who makes a statement in the manner referred to in subsection (1) may, unless the person proves that there is a reasonable possibility that he or she was ignorant of the falsity of the statement and that the ignorance was not due to negligence on his or her part, be regarded as being aware of the falsity of the statement.
[Subsection (2) substituted by section 68 of Act 23 of 2015 effective on 8 January 2016]
(3) Only a senior SARS official may lay a complaint with the South African Police Service or the National Prosecuting Authority regarding an offence under this section.
246. Public officers of companies
(1) Every company carrying on business or having an office in the Republic must at all times be represented by an individual residing in the Republic.
(2) The individual representative under subsection (1) must be-
(a) a person who is a senior official of the company or, if no senior official resides in the Republic, another suitable person approved by SARS;
(b) appointed by the company or by an agent or legal practitioner who has authority to appoint such a representative for the purposes of a tax Act; and
(c) called the public officer of the company.
[Subsection (2) amended by section 84(a) of Act 39 of 2013 and by section 45 of Act 33 of 2019 and substituted by section 31(a) of Act 43 of 2024]
(3) If a public officer is not appointed as required under this section, the public officer is regarded to be-
(a) the first person who is eligible to represent the company as public officer, in the following order of priority:
(i) Managing director or equivalent;
(ii) financial director or equivalent;
(iii) company secretary;
(iv) director or prescribed officer who has the largest shareholding in the company;
(v) director or prescribed officer who has held office for the longest period of time; and
(vi) a senior employee of the company in order of the company’s reporting hierarchy; or
(b) any suitable person that SARS designates for that purpose.
[Subsection (3) substituted by section 84(b) of Act 39 of 2013 and by section 31(b) of Act 43 of 2024]
(4) A company that has not appointed a public officer is subject to a tax Act as if a tax Act did not require the public officer to be appointed.
(5) A public officer is responsible for all acts, matters, or things that the public officer’s company must do under a tax Act, and in case of default, the public officer is subject to penalties for the company’s defaults.
(6) A public officer’s company is regarded as having done everything done by the public officer in the officer’s representative capacity.
(7) The company is regarded as not having appointed a public officer if the person appointed as public officer is-
(a) not eligible, in terms of subsection (2) or (8), to represent the company as public officer; or
(b) notified by SARS that he or she is not considered suitable to represent the company as public officer,
and must, within 21 business days of the date on which paragraph (a) or (b) becomes applicable, notify SARS, in writing, of the newly appointed public officer.
[Subsection (7) substituted by section 31(c) of Act 43 of 2024]
(8) A person who is disqualified in terms of section 6 of the Trust Property Control Act, 1988 (Act 57 of 1988), section 25A of the Nonprofit Organisations Act, 1997 (Act 71 of 1997), or section 69 of the Companies Act, 2008 (Act 78 of 2008), may not be appointed as a public officer under this section
[Subsection (8) added by section 30 of Act 18 of 2023]
261. Public officer previously appointed
A public officer appointed or regarded as appointed under a tax Act and holding office immediately before the commencement date of this Act, is regarded as a public officer appointed under this Act.