A Cape Town attorney has been fined R108 000 or 18 years’ direct imprisonment after failing to submit income tax and payroll-related returns for more than two decades.

Sulaiman Chotia, the sole proprietor of J Ramages Attorneys in Athlone, entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the state under section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act.

NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazilila, said Chotia pleaded guilty to 18 statutory contraventions of SA’s tax legislation and paid R72 000 to avoid incarceration.

According to IoL Ntabazilila said the court heard Chotia failed to submit income tax returns and EMP501 reconciliation statements over a 20-year period, from January 2005 to January 2025.

An EMP501 is a biannual reconciliation report employers must submit to SARS.

Ntabazilila said despite repeated reminders and final demand notices from SARS, Chotia remained non-compliant. Fifteen years of income tax returns and three PAYE periods were outstanding.

The outstanding documents were only submitted after a criminal summons was issued. The state argued that as a legal practitioner, Chotia was fully responsible for his firm’s tax compliance.

In mitigation, Chotia admitted legal responsibility and acknowledged the returns were not submitted.

He told the court he had delegated tax compliance duties to his office manager, who died in 2019, and subsequent attempts to resolve the matter through other staff members were unsuccessful.

A third person eventually helped to regularise the firm’s tax affairs.

Full IoL report