Drilling down for value
Behind Sasol's dispute with Sars over whopping R12.8bn bill
Ahead of an asset review to up return on capital invested, Sasol has said it may be hit with a R12.8bn Sars bill
The SA Revenue Service (Sars), no doubt under pressure to try to make up revenue shortfalls in a weak economy, has struck again, this time at fuels and chemicals giant Sasol. Sasol said this week it might have to pay up to R12.8bn claimed by Sars in relation to crude oil purchases for Natref dating back to 2004. Last year Sars claimed R6.5bn from Kumba Iron Ore, which settled at R2.5bn.To put Sars’s claim against Sasol into context, it amounts to more than a third of the group’s operating profit of R31.7bn for the year to June. Business Day reported recently that Sars has raised only about R4bn of the R40bn it had hoped from a tax amnesty offered to people to disclose hitherto hidden foreign assets. Though Sars’s desperation is understandable, it is another investment-deterring move from a government that has already imposed a poorly consulted and costly third charter on mining companies.
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