Kaunda Selisho

By Kaunda Selisho

Journalist


Sars e-filing system faces looming crash

The tax agency will have to cough up over R1bn to bring the system back up to date.


The testimony of South African Revenue Service (Sars) executives at the Nugent commission this week revealed that the tax agency’s digital infrastructure has become inadequate and outdated as a result of Tom Moyane halting its modernisation programme shortly after he took over as commissioner back in 2014.

Business Day reports that it would cost about R1 billion to fix Sars’s IT infrastructure to avoid the potential crash of the e-filing system among a number of other looming problems.

ALSO READ: Moyane’s legal fees against Adrian Lackay ‘to be paid by Sars’

IT strategy executive Andre Rabie confirmed the crisis, stating: “At this point in time, our infrastructure both from [a] desktop perspective and more importantly our core, which is the technology [that] makes all of this engine work, is behind from an infrastructure perspective.”

According to Rabie and other executives, Moyane’s appointment of consultancy firm Gartner to assess Sars’ IT system and strategy in addition to Gartner’s report and recommendations in the restructuring are the root causes of the problem.

Gartner’s role in Sars’ decline will form the focus at the Nugent commission this week.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.