Two loyalists of suspended South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Tom Moyane were on Thursday removed from the top positions he had elevated them to back to their original posts. SARS is seeking to turn around public perception after years of allegations of mismanagement and state capture. The restructuring also saw an appointment made in the portfolio of customs. Customs is a crucial area of revenue collection for SARS. The ongoing commission of inquiry into governance at the tax agency heard last week how the customs capacity was weakened, potentially resulting in an increase in the illegal tobacco trade. Research firm Ipsos released a study on Thursday indicating that trade in illegal cigarettes flourished during the “SARS crisis” between 2014 and 2017. The study showed that SARS lost about R7bn in revenue to the illegal tobacco trade in 2018.
SARS is also reviving enforcement units to tackle the illicit economy — many of these were neutralised during Moyane’s re...
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