EDITORIAL: SA taxed by SARS farce
SA cannot afford any deterioration in tax morality or in SARS’s ability to collect
President Jacob Zuma assured us recently that SA was not a banana republic. We are inclined to agree. SA’s exploits are a lot more like a soap opera’s theatrics. Each new episode brings ever-more absurd, outrageous and distressing developments. We can rely on regular new episodes, with an ever-expanding cast of characters, even though there are some trusty stars who appear again and again. Choosing the most riveting episode is a tough one, but the kidnapping-in-the-boardroom incident at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is up there among the most outrageous, and is one of the most disturbing. It is also one of several such episodes in the life of SARS that is surely doing deep and possibly irreparable damage to a key South African institution, one that had long and carefully built a tax culture and a tax morality that could easily be destroyed if these kinds of episodes continue. The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) Shaun Abrahams has now, thankfully, dropped the spur...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.