Matthew Lester, one of SA’s foremost tax experts, lost his battle against illness on Monday at the age of 56. He qualified as a chartered accountant and then did his national service at the receiver of revenue as a tax inspector, which he found he was quite good at. But he turned from being a game warden to a poacher as a tax consultant. That didn’t last long, thanks to his father, who told him: "Those who can’t, teach. And those who can’t teach, lecture. And those who can’t lecture, consult." He arrived at the department of accounting at Rhodes University in 1998 to "rehabilitate" himself from being a tax consultant. The real motive, I suspect, was a lifetime passion for fishing and walking his dogs. The loss of Matthew’s talents to the receiver of revenue and the tax consulting profession was an immense gain for every tax student who ever sat in his classroom. In 2001, he received the Rhodes University Vice-Chancellors Award for distinguished teaching. In 2009, Matthew received th...
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