Fair Play 25

Welcome to our second quarter issue of Fair Play!  We are excited about this issue because the Office of the Tax Ombud’s educational campaign continues to provide insights on promoting Taxpayers’ rights during the SARS’s Tax Season. The OTO’s #TaxpayersRightsMatter campaign aims to educate taxpayers about their rights, what they mean, and when they should […]

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Fairness for all: Case 17
Fairness for all Case 14 | Office of the Tax Ombud

The Office of the Tax Ombud is pleased to share the 17th issue of its monthly case study newsletter Fairness for All. The newsletter seeks to educate taxpayers about the types of taxpayer complaints lodged with the OTO and how these are resolved. In the current issue, we showcase one of the challenges taxpayers experience […]

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Fairness for all: Case 16
| Office of the Tax Ombud

In 2017 the OTO issued a report after finalising a systemic investigation into what caused delays in SARS paying refunds to taxpayers. One of the issues identified was that SARS delays the revision of assessments after disputes have been finalised. The primary issue noted by the Tax Ombud was that there is no prescribed timeframe […]

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Fair Play 24
Fair Play 24 Gavel | Office of the Tax Ombud

The theme of the current edition is “Balancing  taxpayers’ rights and obligations”, and the articles and insights featured in this issue seek to do precisely that by providing informative material on the topic. 

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Fairness for all: Case 15
Fairness for all Case 14 | Office of the Tax Ombud

Taxpayers regularly experience challenges with IRP5 certificates, either with incorrect information reflecting on the certificates or not receiving the IRP5 certificates from their previous employers. It is important to note that the above issues should be directed to employers and not the South African Revenue Services (SARS). However, the case below, which can be taken […]

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Fairness for All: Case 14
| Office of the Tax Ombud

The OTO has discovered a previously unidentified issue relating to SARS repeatedly conducting verifications that could be contributing to delays in the revenue authority finalising assessments.  This issue was found during an analysis the OTO has been conducting to determine possible root causes of certain delays in paying out refunds, specifically in cases where SARS […]

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Compilation of Taxpayer Rights, Entitlements and Obligations
Compilation of Tax Payer Rights Entitlements & Obligations feautre 6 | Office of the Tax Ombud

The Tax Ombud, Judge Bernard Ngoepe, is pleased to share South Africa’s first-ever Compilation of Taxpayers’ Rights, Entitlements and Obligations. The document was compiled by the Office of the Tax Ombud (OTO) with inputs from numerous stakeholders in and outside the tax sphere. Thank you for your contribution and support over the years, and we […]

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Fairness for All: Case 13
Fairness for all Case 6 | Office of the Tax Ombud

Before releasing tax refunds, SARS is by law allowed to conduct verifications when it identifiesrisks, but it is not common to do so multiple times for the same tax year and request the samedocuments.

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