The South African Revenue Service (Sars) customs division has raked in R200-million in extra revenue from the oil industry in the past financial year, MPs were told on Wednesday.
Vusi Shabalala, head of customs, told the finance select and portfolio ad hoc committees on Wednesday: “In the past there was too much reliance on the reports that the oil industry themselves gave to the Sars.”
There has been limited auditing of these accounts but this has now changed considerably. Sars is now auditing the oil industry’s returns “a lot more strictly”, he noted.
He said in 2003/04, R200-million in extra tax revenue was derived from the industry.
“In some cases the losses they claim are not those that are allowed by the law.
“In some cases the movements of the products among the subsidiaries [of the holding companies] are not recorded in the records and therefore duty is not paid as a result,” he said, arguing that it has been viewed as an administrative error rather than an illegal action. — I-Net Bridge