The SA Revenue Service's (Sars's) head of legal, Refiloe Mokoena, who was allegedly at the centre of granting the controversial Gupta family a reported R420m VAT refund, has been suspended. This was confirmed in the interim report by retired judge Robert Nugent on the commission of inquiry into administration and governance at Sars, released by President Cyril Ramaphosa this week. Nugent has recommended that suspended commissioner Tom Moyane be removed and a permanent Sars commissioner be appointed to stabilise the institution. News reports in August indicated that Moyane had also signed off on the Gupta VAT refunds, with legal advice from Mokoena. In his interim report, Nugent highlighted the deep challenges plaguing Sars including turbulence among its top leadership structure — its executive committee. Nugent said in the report that by the end of 2017, none of the executive committee members who led Sars when suspended commissioner Tom Moyane took office, remained. All members of ...

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