Madeleine Wackernagel
Jilted your partner recently? Upset your neighbour? And not declared your earnings? Be warned, the taxman cometh.
With the amnesty out of the way on February 28, the Receiver of Revenue can now follow up on tip-offs from ex-wives, vengeful lovers and angry associates. Until now, the Receiver has been powerless to act on such information as the alleged tax-evader still had the law on his — or her — side.
But no longer. Says Christo Henning, a revenue representative: “We cannot be used as a pawn in a lovers’ dispute. Come Monday, we will follow up on all the information received, and if there is a genuine case of tax-evasion, we will take further action.
“Since we set up the toll-free number, we’ve been getting 800 calls a day, 10 of which involve an informant.”
The R6-million campaign to raise public awareness about the tax amnesty has gained rapid momentum in the past few weeks, says Henning. And in terms of its twin-pronged approach of making the revenue service more user-friendly, as well as prompting evaders to come clean, it has been a remarkable success, he says.
At the time of going to press, there was still no final figure on the actual amount coming back into the Treasury. Of the estimated total R4,3-billion in unpaid taxes, a return of R2-billion would have kept the revenue happy. At last count, on January 17, only R272-million had dribbled in, although Henning is confident the total amount will be much higher.
But for all those non-payers out there, time’s up. The Ministry of Finance this week confirmed that in terms of the Final Relief on Tax, Interest and Additional Tax Act, there is no provision for extending the amnesty deadline.
The National African Chambers of Commerce (Nafcoc) is still holding out, however, despite repeated refusals from the government to countenance its demands. Says Nafcoc executive director Phillip Machaba: “We’re not saying people shouldn’t pay their taxes; in fact, we’re prepared to fund an educational campaign to raise awareness of the importance of tax payments.
“But our point is that we shouldn’t have to pay taxes for the apartheid years. The situation in the townships before the 1994 election was abnormal and we don’t believe we should pay the capital due [interest and penalties accumulated before April 1994 have been written off]. The prevailing circumstances made it impossible to pay.
“We will pay taxes under the democratically elected government, but not those accrued in the apartheid era.”
Machaba is still confident a compromise can be reached. “In the best interests of the country, we hope to resolve it without resorting to mass action.”