ARTICLE · 09 DECEMBER 2020

Five Points To Consider When SARS Owes You A Refund

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It's been a tough year. For taxpayers expecting long-outstanding refunds from the South African Revenue Service ("SARS"), even more so.

South AfricaTax

Andries Myburgh

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It's been a tough year. For taxpayers expecting long-outstanding refunds from the South African Revenue Service ("SARS"), even more so.

Earlier this year, SARS relished the fact that it had paid ZAR2.4 billion in refunds to taxpayers. It acknowledged that these refunds were "a major cash injection into the economy at a very critical period". But SARS has generally been slow to refund amounts of excess payments due to taxpayers. The Tax Ombud, for instance, reported that in the 2018/2019 financial year, 24.43% of all complaints received by its office had related to delayed refunds – the second highest number of complaints.

The serious delays often experienced by taxpayers in this regard have been the subject of a systemic investigation by the Tax Ombud, too. But it seems that this frustrating practice will persist for as long as the current pressure on the fiscus prevails. Fortunately, taxpayers are not without legal recourse when a refund is due by SARS.

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