166.    Allocation of payments

 

(1)     Despite anything to the contrary contained in a tax Act, SARS may allocate any payment made in terms of a tax Act against an amount of penalty or interest or the oldest amount of an outstanding tax debt at the time of the payment, other than amounts-

 

(a)     for which payment has been suspended under this Act; or

 

(b)     that are payable in terms of an instalment payment agreement under section 167.

 

(2)     SARS may apply the first-in-first-out principle described in subsection (1) in respect of a specific tax type or a group of tax types in the manner that may be prescribed by the Commissioner by public notice.

 

(3)     In the event that a payment in subsection (1) is insufficient to extinguish all tax debts of the same age, the amount of the payment may be allocated among these tax debts in the manner prescribed by the Commissioner by public notice.

 

(4)     The age of a tax debt for purposes of subsection (1) is determined according to the duration from the date the debt became payable in terms of the applicable Act.