20 April 2016 South African tax court upholds stricter application of rules on time to object to assessments In a recent South African Income Tax Court (ITC) case, the court was called upon to decide where the onus rested to show "exceptional circumstances" as envisioned by the Tax Administration Act (TAA), which gave rise to a delay in a taxpayer's lodging of an objection with the South African Revenue Service (SARS). The TAA provides that a taxpayer has 30 business days from the date of the assessment to object, and goes on to state that this period must not be extended, by more than 21 business days, unless a senior SARS official is satisfied that the delay was caused by exceptional circumstances. In practice, there appears to be an inconsistent approach from SARS on this policy and many taxpayers have filed their objections late and still found these were processed by SARS. However, based on the instant case, the ITC has now put late assessment filings in a different perspective. A Tax Alert prepared by Ernst & Young South Africa, and attached below, provides additional details. Document ID: 2016-0716 |
