What if I do not agree?

Introduction of improvements to the Dispute management process

On 15 May 2017 SARS introduced important changes and improvements to its current dispute management process as part of our ongoing commitment to delivering a better service to taxpayers.

Please take note of the following:

• Request for Reasons: SARS has, for the very first time, implemented an electronic Request for Reasons via eFiling and the SARS branches. The Request for Reasons automated functionality has been implemented for Personal Income Tax (PIT), Company Income Tax (CIT) and Value-Added Tax (VAT). The Request for Reasons functionality allows taxpayers to request reasons for the assessment where the grounds provided in the assessment do not sufficiently enable a taxpayer to understand the basis of the assessment and to formulate an objection, if the taxpayer is aggrieved by the assessment. Once the system has identified that a valid Request for Reasons has been submitted, the period within which an objection must be lodged will be automatically extended for the period permitted by the Dispute Resolution Rules. The Request for Reasons case management workflow further allows SARS to improve its tracking and management of request for reason requests.

• Request to allow late submission of a dispute for PIT, CIT and VAT: The new dispute management process introduces a separate condonation workflow whereby the taxpayer is now allowed to submit the Request for Reasons, Notice of Objection (NOO) or Notice of Appeal (NOA) after the periods prescribed by the Dispute Resolution Rules have lapsed. Prior to the introduction of the separate workflow, the condonation process was included in the actual dispute process. Where the request for late submission of a Request for Reasons, NOO or NOA was not successful, the current dispute process caused confusion regarding the outcome of the dispute and what the next available step in the dispute process was. The new automated condonation process allows for SARS to attend to the request for late submission before the Dispute or Request for Reasons case can be created and considered by SARS. If the Request for Reasons, NOO or NOA was submitted late, the taxpayer will be prompted to provide reasons for the late submission. The new condonation process will ensure that the request for late submission is aligned with legislation as SARS will now inform the taxpayer upfront that the submission is late instead of classifying the dispute as invalid.

• Suspension of payments on VAT: Taxpayers are now able to request suspension of payments pending the outcome of a dispute on VAT via eFiling or at a SARS branch. This is in line with already implemented suspension of payments that was implemented for PIT and CIT in 2015.

• eFiling Guided Process (PIT, CIT and VAT): To assist taxpayers in following the correct dispute sequence and complete all the information required, eFiling has been made an entirely guided process. The eFiling guided process will ensure that the dispute is submitted according to legislative requirements and thereby eliminating any invalid disputes from being submitted to SARS.

For more information you can call the SARS Contact Centre on 0800 00 7277.

• 11 November 2016 – Disputes against VAT Assessment
  Please note: If the item you want to dispute is not available for selection, you unfortunately will have to lodge the dispute at your nearest Branch Office. This is a known issue and we are working to address the problem.

• 14 October 2016 – Enhanced Dispute management process for VAT
  On 14 October 2016, SARS implemented an enhanced dispute management process for Value-Added Tax (VAT) on the electronic platform. The improved system will enable VAT vendors to lodge disputes via eFiling and electronically at any SARS branch, manage their tax profiles better and also have a consolidated view of all lodged disputes for PIT, CIT and now VAT.

The benefits are:

• Ability to lodge disputes electronically via eFiling or at SARS branches (including Request for Remission, Notices of Objection, and Notice of Appeal)
• Ability to view all dispute correspondence, and where applicable upload supporting documents
• Taxpayers will have a consolidated view of all their disputes lodged across core taxes on eFiling
• Outcome letters for Request for Remission (RFR) and Notice of Objection (NOO) are conveniently available on the taxpayer’s eFiling profile
• Receive updates on dispute outcomes via eFiling for Request for Remission and Objections lodged
• Ability to dispute multiple periods on one form up to a maximum of 12 periods
• Ability to submit disputes will be based on the user submission rights.

Please note: For VAT only, if an ADR1 was completed for a specific period you will need to go to a branch to submit a NOA (Notice of Appeal) as eFiling does not have a history of the ADR submission and will allow you to submit a NOO(Notice of Objection) for the period.

Top tip: The RFR can only be done via eFiling once the ITA34 has been issued.

Taxpayers can also now request suspension of payment electronically at the same time as filing the Dispute. Please note that Suspension of Payment can be requested with Dispute at a Branch and not via eFiling as eFiling only supports standalone Suspension of Payment and not Suspension with Dispute.

Please note that the RFR form and the Dispute forms can no longer be requested via the SARS Contact Centre.

Corrections

If you realise you made a mistake, the Request for Correction process allows you the ability to correct a previously submitted return/declaration for Income Tax or Value-Added Tax (VAT).

Disputes

If you don’t agree with the outcome of the audit/verification, you can dispute the outcome. To dispute the outcome of your assessment, a specific process must be followed.

1. You can object:

You must submit your objection on the correct form. See more information on which form to use and how to submit an objection.

Top Tip: To dispute a Personal Income Tax Administrative Penalty, you will first need to send a Request for Remission (RFR01).

2. If you don’t agree with the outcome of an objection, you can appeal.

As a taxpayer you have the right to lodge an appeal where your objection hasn’t been allowed in full or in part. The appeal must be lodged within 30 business days from the date the objection wasn’t allowed or wasn’t allowed in full. See more information on which form to use and how to submit an appeal.

Please note: For VAT only, if an ADR1 was completed for a specific period you will need to go to a branch to submit a NOA (Notice of Appeal) as eFiling does not have a history of the ADR submission and will allow you to submit a NOO(Notice of Objection) for the period.

Top Tip: You can call SARS with your debt query, please click here for the contact options.

Administrative Penalties

Did you get an Administrative Penalty? An administrative non-compliance penalty made up of fixed amount penalties as well as percentage based penalties. A non-compliance penalty levied depends on the type of non-compliance.

If a taxpayer doesn’t pay their tax debts (this includes penalties) by the due date, SARS is allowed to recover money held by third parties on behalf of the taxpayer. Third parties could be an employer or a bank, etc.

This means that if you didn’t respond to any of the notices or demands informing you of your outstanding tax debts, SARS may appoint your employer or any other third party who holds money on your behalf, to pay the outstanding amounts to SARS.