WeeklySA_AdminEXPERIENCE:Judge Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe saw more than R500 million in tax refund since 2013.
By Thuli Zungu
Judge Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe the recipient of many leadership and human rights awards, including the Duma Nokwe award is hailed for doing wonders for the taxpayers who are dissatisfied with the South African Revenue Service.
Judge Ngoepe is a Tax Ombud only on a part-time basis and also renders other services particularly in the private sector on request.
Since taking reins the intervention of the Office of Tax Ombuds ( OTO) saw taxpayers recovering a whooping R500 millions in the past seven years.
The OTO received 3 372 complaints from taxpayers and 1993 0f them have been resolved between 2019 and 2020.
Asked how he manages all of these tasks he was quick to say that everything is about careful balancing of things.
“All you need to do is to budget and apportion time appropriately and learn how best to use it. So, if you apportion your time correctly, with self-discipline as well, it should not be difficult,” he said
Everything is about careful balancing of things. All you need to do is to budget and apportion time appropriately and learn how best to use it.
Judge Ngoepe said there are challenges he faces in performing his duties but they are not unexpected.
“They are manageable and go with the nature of the office, namely, to resolve what may sometimes be complex tax complaints by taxpayers against SARS. The comforting thing is that one ends up facilitating fair tax collection,” he said.
Judge Ngoepe said legally, the OTO does not recover funds for taxpayers. It simply assists them by ensuring SARS treats them reasonably, fairly and in a procedurally correct way.
“If the outcome of our interventions is that a taxpayer obtains a refund, that is purely incidental and does not indicate recovery on behalf of a taxpayer, “he said
However, the recovery which we saw in the years mentioned is more than R500 million in tax refund since the establishment of the Office- this is calculated from 2017-2019, he said.
“Whilst we emphasise that to us saving R500 million is as important as saving business millions of rands, it is noteworthy that just the top 10 tax refunds paid to taxpayers through the OTO’s intervention in the 2019/20 financial year exceeded R116 million.
The biggest single refund was over R52 million, so you can just imagine how the loss of such an amount could have affected a business,” said Judge Ngoepe. This amount is only for the top 10 tax refunds paid to taxpayers who had laid complaints against the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Judge Ngoepe revealed in his 2019/20 Annual Report in December 2020.
His appointment in 2013 as a Tax Ombuds was not unexpected.
Judge Ngoepe is a former Judge President of the North and South Gauteng High Courts, where he heard and decided seminal cases, including business and tax matters, and was responsible for assigning judges to the Tax Courts.
He also acted for a term as a Constitutional Court Judge and as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal. He was a Judge of the African Union’s African Court on Human and People’s Rights from 2006 to 2014, and was Vice-President of the Court when he left.
The 74-year- old father of 3 who hails from Pietermaritzburg said two of his children passed on around the age of 40 each, but he is blessed that he and his wife have five grandsons; two of whom are already adults and another two at high school.
“So, apart from our surviving daughter, we have a lot to live for every single day,” he said.
The Judge said the OTO does not necessarily make findings that actions or inactions by SARS constitute unfair business practices, the most significant challenges we see the tax industry facing with SARS and that we have assisted taxpayers with are:
• Stoppers placed by SARS which results in delayed payment of refunds.
• SARS not adhering to the dispute resolution timeframes.
• Taxpayers lack understanding of the SARS Complaints Management process and the legislated timeframes, which delays the complaints resolution process. SARS needs to provide more taxpayer.
Judge Ngoepe said over and above this the OTO is working on the Compendium of Taxpayer Rights and entitlements that will see the Tax Ombud providing access to information relating to the rights and entitlements conveyed to taxpayers by the Constitution, Tax Legislation and other sources.
“For the OTO to champion protecting taxpayer rights, a lot more needs to be done as guided in the Davis Tax Committee’s report to the President.
“At the same time, we would not want to imply that the OTO would take on a representative role for taxpayers. Therefore, the purpose of the document is to be an educational and empowerment tool”, he said.
The Office is working towards digitalising the complaints management system to enable taxpayers to lodge complaints online without printing and signing forms manually, said the Judge.
How to access the Office of the Tax Ombud
Since the lockdown in April 2020, the OTO staff have worked remotely from home for most of the time to protect themselves from the pandemic and reduce the spread of infections.
On limited days, some employees are allowed to come to the office to perform specific tasks, but all health and safety measures are implemented and observed.
Queries and complaints can be sent via email to complaints@taxombud.gov.za, or you can call their call centre on 0800 662 837.
If taxpayers prefer to visit the office, it is located at Menlyn Corner in Pretoria. The address is: Menlyn Corner, 87 Frikkie de Beer Street.
Due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, taxpayers are asked to avoid visiting the office but instead are encouraged to email or call .
Mail can be posted to PO Box 12314, Hatfield, 0028
More information about the office can be accessed on www.taxombud.gov.za
The highlights of this office since 2013
• In 2016, the OTO conducted its first systemic investigation.
This was into delays in the payment of tax refunds by SARS.
• In 2017, the Tax Administration Act was amended to give the Tax Ombud more powers when addressing taxpayers’ complaints and strengthened the office’s independence from SARS.
For example changing the term of office for Tax Ombud to five years, giving OTO powers (with approval from Finance Minister) to investigate any systematic and emerging issues, giving the Tax Ombud powers to appoint the staff of the office without consulting the SARS Commissioner as previously stipulated, as well as having its budget determined by the finance minister instead of the revenue collector.
• In 2018, the minister of finance granted the OTO permission to investigate the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) statement of accounts and SARS’ non-adherence to dispute resolution timeframes.
It also commissioned the first customer perception survey to determine the level of awareness and perception about the OTO among taxpayers and tax practitioners.
• In 2019, the Tax Ombud concluded an MoU that governs the relationship between the OTO and SARS, and signed another with the Public Protector South Africa.
• In 2020, the Tax Ombud released the Systemic Investigations report into the fluidity of the PAYE statements of account and failure by SARS to adhere to the Dispute Resolution Rules, Procedures and Timeframes prescribed in the Regulations and the Tax Administration Act (TAA).
• In the 2017/18 financial year, SARS Implemented 99.79% of OTO recommendations. In 2018/19 implemented 99.27%, and in 2019/20 implemented 98%. This talks to the quality of the recommendations made by the OTO.
• In 2020/2021, the office will, for the first time since being established eight years ago, have its performance audited by the Auditor-General South Africa.
