118.    Constitution of tax court

(1)     A tax court established under this Act consists of-

(a)     a judge or an acting judge of the High Court, who is the president of the tax court;

(b)     an accountant selected from the panel of members appointed in terms of section 120; and

(c)     a representative of the commercial community selected from the panel of members appointed in terms of section 120.

(2)     If the appeal involves-

(a)     a complex matter that requires specific expertise and the president of the tax court so directs after considering any representations by a senior SARS official or the ‘appellant’, the representative of the commercial community referred to in subsection (1)(c) may be a person with the necessary experience in that field of expertise;

(b)     the valuation of assets and the president of the tax court, a senior SARS official or the ‘appellant’ so requests, the representative of the commercial community referred to in subsection (1)(c) must be a sworn appraiser.

[Subsection (2) amended by section 51 of Act 39 of 2013, substituted by section 58 of Act 16 of 2016 effective on 19 January 2017]

(3)     If an appeal to the tax court involves a matter of law only or is an interlocutory application or application in a procedural matter under the ‘rules’, the president of the court sitting alone must decide the appeal.

(4)     The president of the court alone decides whether a matter for decision involves a matter of fact or a matter of law.

(5)     The Judge-President of the Division of the High Court with jurisdiction in the area where the relevant tax court is situated, may direct that the tax court consist of three judges or acting judges of the High Court (one of whom is the president of the tax court) and the members of the court referred to in subsections (1)(b) and (c) and (2), where necessary, if-

(a)     the amount in dispute exceeds R50 million; or

(b)     SARS and the ‘appellant’ jointly apply to the Judge-President.