Sars boss Moyane suspended, acting head announced

Earlier on Monday it was reported by Business Day that embattled SA Revenue Service commissioner Tom Moyane was asked to resign by President Cyril Ramaphosa, but refused.

He has now been suspended, according to the same publication and News24, with immediate effect.

The acting commissioner has been announced as Mark Kingon, who Sars said has been with the revenue service “since its establishment” to become the acting head of business and individual taxes after Jonas Makwakwa resigned last week. He has been with the service for nearly 34 years.

Moyane has faced years of controversy and Ramaphosa announced that a commission of inquiry would be probing Sars.

Moyane was linked to approving questionable VAT refunds worth as much as R70 million paid to the Guptas’ Oakbay Investments, allegedly via a third-party company, which is illegal. He also shielded his second in charge, Jonas Makwakwa, from allegations that Makwakwa had received money from a company that was appointed as a debt collector for Sars. Makwakwa resigned last week.

Moyane also fell short of his revenue collection target by nearly R50 billion.

He has denied any wrongdoing.

Business Day quotes President Cyril Ramaphosa as saying the “deterioration in public confidence in Sars and public finances being compromised” were contributors to the decision to suspend.