TAX experts have unanimously called for the Treasury’s special voluntary disclosure programme to be made simplified and for the application period to be extended to ensure that more people come forward to declare their illegally hoarded offshore assets. They are also unanimous that significant sums held abroad were left untouched by the two previous tax amnesties held in 2003 and 2010. The amnesty announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his 2016-17 budget provides tax and foreign exchange control relief for undeclared assets held abroad. One of the main complaints about the programme scheduled to start in October is that the six-month period allowed for applications is too short given the complexity of the supporting documentation required. This would discourage people from even attempting to apply, the tax experts told Parliament’s standing committee on finance, which held public hearings on Tuesday on the special voluntary disclosure programme and other aspects of proposed...
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