Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel on Thursday launched the Large Business Centre (LBC), which will cover 9 000 companies with a minimum annual turnover of R250-million.
As the LBC is located at Eskom’s Megawatt Park in Sunninghill, Manuel said since it has naming rights to its part of the building, it will be called Megabucks Park.
South African Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Pravin Gordhan said the centre will have an initial staff complement of 140, of which 100 will be professionals, but the target is to have a staff complement of 600. The LBC premises will also house the Sars academy where tax officials will be trained.
The newly appointed head of the LBC is Edward Kieswetter, who was chief executive of public banking with the First Rand Group.
Manuel said that the LBC has been established to make it easier for large companies to comply with the law and the aim is to make the LBC provide a one-stop service.
The taxes/impost that will be dealt with by the LBC include income tax, secondary tax on companies, value-added tax, pay as you earn including the unemployment insurance fund and the skills development levy, market securities tax, uncertified insurance tax, donations tax, royalties tax, stamp duty and excise.
The corporate tax payers that will be serviced by the LBC include companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange, parastatals, unlisted companies with an annual turnover in excess of R250-million, major financial institutions and multinational corporations and their local branches.
Megabucks Park is the first of four LBCs, with the others located in Cape Town, Durban and the Eastern Cape. — I-Net Bridge