Tax ombudsman plays vital role

Pretoria - After two deductions amounting to R1 million, a taxpayer was able to have a portion of the money paid back following the intervention of the Office of the Tax Ombudsman.

The ombudsman recommended to the South African Revenue Services (Sars) that the assessment, originally done in 2012, be reviewed and an investigation done on what happened to the amount that was not accounted for.

The money, with interest of R57 592 was refunded to the taxpayer last month.

The taxpayer has since written to the ombudsman appreciating the efforts in resolving the complaint.

This is just one of many complaints that have been resolved by the Office of the Tax Ombudsman since it was established towards the end of 2013.

Retired judge president Bernard Ngoepe has been appointed and reports directly to the minister of finance as the tax ombudsman.

“The role is independent of Sars and its mandate executed impartially,” Judge Ngoepe told the Pretoria News.

The tax ombudsman is mandated to review and address any complaint by a taxpayer regarding a service, procedural or administrative matter arising from the application of the provisions of a tax legislation by Sars.

“And like Sars, the office is legally obliged to protect confidential taxpayer information.

In another case, a taxpayer submitted returns to a Sars branch manually and they were not processed, which created debt for him.

These returns were submitted in May 2013 and there had been correspondence with Sars, but the matter was not resolved.

There were misallocations of R71 623 and this created tax debt. Sars deducted money from the taxpayer’s account to settle the debt.

After the matter was reported to the ombudsman, the returns were correctly allocated as indicated by the taxpayer on his submission and correct payment allocations made.

Another matter related to a refund outstanding since 2006 to a small independent organisation, amounting to R143 000. The complaint was raised with Sars in 2007, but no refund was paid. It has also since been resolved.

Lodging a complaint against Sars through the ombudsman is free to all taxpayers.

When the ombudsman accepts a complaint, it attempts to resolve it at the level at which the complaint can most efficiently and effectively be resolved.

In so doing, the ombudsman will communicate with Sars officials who must provide requested information.

In its communications with Sars, the ombudsman or any person acting for the office may not disclose information of any kind related to the complaint.

The ombudsman endeavours to give a response regarding a complaint within 15 days.

Judge Ngoepe said the office was separate from Sars – and “even our premises are miles apart”.

He said the office was there to ensure that taxpayers no longer had to resort to lawyers, who never came cheaply.

The office term of the tax ombudsman is three years, but Judge Ngoepe said they were hoping to create an institution that would outlive any individual.

He said his team had visited other similar institutions the world over to ensure it benchmarked itself with the best and rendered a service of high standard.

“We have a reason to believe we are doing well,” said the former acting justice of the Constitutional Court and former North Gauteng High Court Judge President.

Pretoria News