The SARS has secured a provisional sequestration order against a taxpayer for R155m for tax non-compliance. The order allows SARS to seize assets of an individual taxpayer to cover their tax bill.

According to Tax Consulting SA, the taxpayer in question was the sole director of a company that carried the tax liability.

BusinessTech reports that the order was confirmed by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) last week. SARS took legal action against the taxpayer and placed the estate under external administration due to insolvency or unpaid debts directly related to the tax liabilities.

Tax Consulting said that showed that SARS would target tax defaulters without hesitation and come after them with the full might of the law.

It was also evidence of SARS' far-reaching powers and zero-tolerance approach – and the latest in a string of battles against individual taxpayers that resulted in multi-million paydays for the taxman.

BusinessTech notes that SARS earlier this year secured a judgment from the SCA clawing back R40m from impermissible tax rebates, as well as R30m from a taxpayer using creative accounting to lend money to their own businesses.

Also in October, SARS secured a R46m payout using its General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) against a taxpayer who had been channelling their remuneration through foreign entities to avoid paying tax.

Following the latest win, SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter reiterated the service’s approach to non-compliance, again sending a warning to taxpayers who are flouting or abusing the laws.

‘Where taxpayers opt to wilfully disregard their obligations by acting outside the remit of the law, SARS will make it hard and costly,’ he said. 

‘SARS will continue to act lawfully and decisively against those who deliberately seek to evade or neglect their tax responsibilities. The message we want to communicate is that no matter how long it takes, SARS will not abdicate its responsibility to enforce the law.’

Full BusinessTech report