Question NW1619 to the Minister of Finance
19 June 2017 - NW1619
Lees, Mr RA to ask the Minister of Finance
(1)Whether, with reference to the reported value-added tax (VAT) refund to a certain company (name furnished) around the first week of June 2017, the specified company requested that the specified refund be paid into (a) a foreign bank account and/or (b) an attorney’s trust account; if so, (2) was the refund paid into a foreign bank account and/or an attorney’s trust account; if so, in each case, who authorised the payment; (3) whether the tax affairs of the (a) specified company and (b) associated family (name furnished) and any other associated persons are handled by the VIP unit of the SA Revenue Service (SARS); if so, what are the (i) provisions that the SARS VIP unit rely on to handle the tax affairs of the specified taxpayers and (ii) detailed reasons for the SARS VIP unit to handle the tax affairs of the specified taxpayers?
Reply:
The South African Revenue Service is, in terms of the provisions of Chapter 6 of the Tax Administration Act, bound to treat all taxpayers’ affairs as confidential and may not divulge any aspects pertaining to the affairs of any taxpayer.
The Commissioner can therefore not divulge any details relating to this matter.