SARS says it's still considering how to respond to Zuma tax ruling
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner Edward Kieswetter says the tax agency is still deliberating on how to proceed after a high court ruled that it must supply historical tax records of former president Jacob Zuma to two media houses.
On Tuesday, the Gauteng North High Court in Pretoria ruled that SARS must give amaBhungane and the Financial Mail copies of Zuma's tax records for the years between 2010 and 2018, within 10 days of the ruling. The publications launched a joint application to access Zuma's taxpayer information in late 2019 in the wake of the publication of the book The President's Keepers by investigative journalist Jacques Pauw.
Kieswetter said on Thursday that while he understands desire of the media, tax professionals and taxpayers to learn how the revenue collection agency plans to respond to the judgment, the agency is still considering its options.
"Once these deliberations are concluded, a final decision will be made, and I give the assurance that we will engage again once this decision is made," he said.
Kieswetter has previously argued that protecting tax payment secrecy is a "sacrosanct pillar" for the tax agency in order to boost taxpayer morality.
AmaBhungane's co-managing partner Sam Sole, meanwhile, has said that the ruling will not "open the floodgates" but rather provide for disclosure "where the public interest clearly outweighs any harm".
"We think the social value of tax secrecy is exaggerated and mainly serves the powerful and not the community. This judgement begins to strike a better balance," he said.
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