Gupta e-mails reveal suspected multibillion-rand tax avoidance scheme
Family patriarch Atul Gupta at centre of scheme tax experts say points to evidence of a complex tax avoidance practice
Evidence in the leaked Gupta e-mails points to a complex multibillion-rand tax avoidance scheme with family patriarch Atul Gupta at its centre. Various tax experts said on Thursday that the transactions in the leaked e-mails pointed to evidence of a complex practice known as staggering or revolving loans. The Guptas appear to have used personal and inter-company loans to and from their group companies, many of which are located offshore. The practice involves shifting finances and expenses from one company to another prior to the end of a business’s financial year. The loans are then reflected as assets and not as income, which is taxable. The Guptas failed to respond to questions on the allegations this week and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) failed to answer questions in detail. An e-mail from Gupta lieutenant Ashu Chawla to Atul Gupta, dated December 18 2012, contains a spreadsheet with information on loans totalling more than R1.6bn to and from the family’s Sahara Comp...
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