JOHANNESBURG: The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has welcomed an investigation into its systems by the Office of the Tax Ombud.
“The South African Revenue Service can confirm that the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mcebisi Jonas, has informed SARS that permission has been granted to the Office of the Tax Ombud to investigate SARS systems,” SARS said in a statement.
The office was established in October 2013 to enhance the tax administration system. Until then, there was no independent redress channel for taxpayers who had exhausted the normal SARS complaints mechanisms.
The revenue service said it fully supports the investigation and that given the recent narrative about the issue of refunds, it is confident that the results of this investigation will provide the South African public with the requisite confidence in SARS systems.
“The Office of the Tax Ombud and the Ministry of Finance can be assured of full cooperation from SARS during the investigation. It is in the interest of SARS and the public to finally find closure and finality to this issue,” it said.
