‘The poor will suffer’, Kieswetter pleads against tax revolt

“We are angry and outraged at the corruption and the wastage in government, but at the same time, if you were to withhold your money, you will harm and hurt the most vulnerable in society. We at SARS defend the poorest,” Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter said.

Prof. Jannie Rossouw, interim head of the Wits Business School, agrees that the poor will suffer if South Africans stopped paying tax. He also points out that most people do not have a choice to pay tax, as their tax is automatically deducted if they receive a salary.

“There is also a question if there will be the capacity to collect the outstanding tax.”

The principle is that a tax revolt will not amount to much. “If people are unhappy with government, they must make changes at the ballot box,” he said.

Patricia Williams, tax lawyer at Bowmans, says if paying tax depended on morality, there would be a tax revolt, which is why she rather calls it tax compliance.

“People opt not to pay tax by also closing their businesses and moving to other countries because they are unhappy with how Sars treats them.”

She says there are multinational companies who say they cannot do business in South Africa because in doing so, they would be funding corrupt activities.

Johan Troskie, an independent tax lawyer, says a tax revolt would be a good way to bring government to its knees, but the problem is that Sars is structured in a way that makes a tax revolt impossible.

“Corporate South Africa collects most of the taxes on behalf of Sars with only a minimal share of tax payers paying tax individually.”

Kieswetter said during the briefing that Sars is currently resource-constrained.

“We need to increase our audit, criminal investigation and forensic audit capacity, as well as customs and financial structuring.”

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