11.    Legal proceedings involving Commissioner

(1)     No SARS official may institute or defend civil proceedings on behalf of the Commissioner unless authorised to do so under this Act or by the Commissioner or by the person delegated by the Commissioner under section 6(2).

[Subsection (1) substituted by section 36 of Act 23 of 2015 effective on 8 January 2016]

(2)     For purposes of subsection (1), a SARS official who, on behalf of the Commissioner, institutes litigation, or performs acts which are relied upon by the Commissioner in litigation, is regarded as duly authorised until proven to the contrary.

(3)     An amount due or payable as a result of a cost order in favour of SARS recovered by the State Attorney resulting from any civil proceedings under this Act must be paid to the National Revenue Fund.

[Subsection (3) substituted by section 40 of Act 21 of 2012, section 33 of Act 39 of 2013 and section 48 of Act 16 of 2016 effective on 19 January 2017]

(4)     Unless the court otherwise directs, no legal proceedings may be instituted in the High Court against the Commissioner, unless the applicant has given the Commissioner written notice of at least 10 business days of the applicant’s intention to institute the legal proceedings.

[Subsection (4) added by section 33(c) of Act 39 of 2013 and substituted by section 27 of Act 33 of 2019]

(5)     The notice or any process by which the legal proceedings referred to in subsection (4) are instituted, must be served at the address specified by the Commissioner by public notice.