Category: Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011

Section 17 (TAA) – Limitations on authority

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17.    Limitations on authority

 

The Tax Ombud may not review-

 

(a)     legislation or tax policy;

 

(b)     SARS policy or practice generally prevailing, other than to the extent that it relates to a service matter or a procedural or administrative matter arising from the application of the provisions of a tax Act by SARS;

 

(c)     a matter subject to objection and appeal under a tax Act, except for an administrative matter relating to such objection and appeal; or

 

(d)     a decision of, proceeding in or matter before the tax court.

Section 6 (TAA) – Powers and duties

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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

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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.