Sars 2016/17 Annual Report The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has published its Annual Report 2016- 2017, as ‘What’s New!’ under ‘ANNUAL REPORTS & STRATEGIC PLANS’, but strangely not under the ‘WHAT’S NEW AT SARS?’ where it normally publishes its news. There is no reference to when it was published. If you read nothing else in the report, you need to read page 156, point 33 ‘Executive remuneration’. You need to read it in conjunction with point 38 ‘Irregular Expenditure’. The 11 Sars executives secured R3 million in bonuses. Interestingly, five executives received no bonuses. So, six executives secured R3 million of which three nearly secured R2.5 million. The chief officer: legal counsel, in the position for 10 months, secured a bonus of R720 000. The chief officer: Customs and Excise was one of the three executives that received a bonus of a mere R185 000, but was still the fifth highest paid executive with R4 030,000, but on salary alone the second highest, R3 419 000. Second only to the Commissioner for Sars at R3 665 000. Sars Strategic Plan 2017/18 For the first time in five years Sars’ strategic plan has not been published and it seems highly unlikely that it will now publish its Strategic Plan 2017/2018- 2021/2022. Conveyances and goods On 08 December Sars published the 55-page proposed amendment of the Rules of the Customs and Excise Act 9164, relating to the reporting of conveyances and goods (RCG), on which comment is due by 19 January 2018. The proposed rules to the Act are intended to replace the current rules under section 8 of that Act. The content of the proposed rules under section 8 is, within the context of the 1964 Act, closely related to chapter 3 of the Customs Control Act 31 of 2014. The proposed rules are intended to bring the RCG requirements under the 1964 Act closer to what will be required in terms of the Customs Control Act when, one day, it comes into effect. [The 2014 Customs Acts have yet to be introduced.] Collectable motor vehicles The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) on 08 December published its eight-page “Guidelines, rules and conditions pertaining to permits issued under rebate item 460.17/87.03/04.04 for vintage and/or internationally collectable motor vehicles not imported for conventional/domestic daily transportation use or purposes classifiable under tariff heading 87.03”. Rebate item 460.17/87.03/04.04 of Schedule No 4, Part 2 of the 1964 Act makes provision for a rebate of the full duty on the: “Importation of motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (excluding commercial vehicles or buses) including station wagons and racing cars classifiable under tariff subheading 87.03, which were manufactured 40 years or more prior to the date of importation or such motor cars of any age which is determined to be an international collector’s vehicle and subject to the issuing of the an Itac import permit (and subject to import control conditions) authorising the importation of the particular vehicle under such conditions as Itac may allow by specific rebate permit.”
