On 11 September 2013 the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and National Treasury published its draft response document to the Standing Committee on Finance (SCoF) on the draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, 2013 and the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill, 2013 (Bills). The Bills were publicly released on 04 July 2013, National Treasury and Sars briefed the SCoF on 24 July 2013, the deadline for public comments was 05 August 2013 and the Committee heard responses from the public at hearings that were held on 20 and 21 August 2013. The final report back to the SCOF was on 11 September 2013. The article merely details the references to the Customs & Excise Act (C&E Act) (the references used in the Response Document have been maintained.) 9.2.1. Clause 9: Section 4 of the C&E Act - Search of premises: Comment: It is proposed that more amendments should be effected to ensure that Sars’ information gathering powers remain within the boundaries of the Constitution. Response: Not accepted. The comment relates to the proposed section 4(4)(e)(i). Paragraph (e) sets out the requirements for obtaining a warrant and subparagraph (i) specifically requires that a magistrate or judge may issue a warrant if it appears from the “information on oath that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence in terms of this Act has been committed”. This clause merely states the requirements for obtaining a warrant and is not meant to specify the formal requirements with which the warrant itself must comply for validity. The magistrates and judges who are responsible for issuing warrants are well versed in the requirements for their validity. 9.2.2. Clause 9: Section 4 of the C&E Act - Investigation of statutory offences by Sars officials. Comment: It is proposed that Sars officials should be limited to merely referring matters for criminal investigation or assisting where requested to do so by the relevant authorities. Response: Not accepted. Section 179 of the Constitution establishes the National Prosecuting Authority and subsection (2) authorises it “to institute proceedings on behalf of the state and carry out any necessary functions incidental to instituting criminal proceedings”. The institution of criminal proceedings has authoritatively been held to have a narrow meaning that does not cover any step taken in a criminal prosecution, but means the charging of an accused by the presiding officer of a court of law.3 The Constitutional provisions, therefore, do not preclude any other organ of state from carrying out functions incidental to instituting criminal proceedings, such as conducting investigations and laying charges with the South African Police Service (SAPS). Unlike section 179(2) of the Constitution, which restricts who may institute a criminal prosecution, section 205 of the Constitution does not state that only the police service may conduct investigations for purposes of criminal prosecution. It is submitted that it is indeed practical for Sars officials to conduct such investigations due to their technical expertise in the tax and customs environment and the fact that they can be of great assistance to the SAPS in this regard. The practice of Departments to assist the SAPS in the investigation of statutory offences is a long-standing and common one throughout the public administration. 9.2.3. Clause 14: Section 73 of the C&E Act - Currency conversion for imported goods: Comment: It is proposed that section 73(6)(a) be amended to read as follows: “The applicable date for a currency conversion in respect of goods imported into or exported from the Republic is the date of first entry of the goods for any purpose in terms of this Act." Response: Accepted. The proposal will assist in fixing the date for currency conversion to the date of entry of the goods. Since a bill of entry can be subsequently substituted or amended, accepting the date of entry irrespective of any substitution or amendment will create certainty on the date to be used for currency conversion purposes.