Sars modernisation will rule out collusion with inspectors

As SA Revenue Service’s
modernisation programme gains
momentum, the revenue authority
is set to stamp out collusion during
the inspection process.
A huge part of the declaration
and inspection process is now
being centralised – so for the
trader there’s no knowing who will
be dealing with his consignment,
says Sars executive manager
Beyers Theron.
Once fully implemented there
will be four compliance centres
and the trader won’t know where
his declaration will end up in
the system – there’s no way of
picking anything out of the queue.
The trader has no idea who is
looking at his declaration and
the officer doesn’t know what
he is getting next, says Theron.
“Everything is recorded on the
system so everyone who deals
with a particular transaction is on
record.”
One of problems in the current
inspection process is that it
sometimes takes three or four
days to finalise, says Theron. “In
future it will be within a day under
normal circumstances. Inspection
officers have no release authority –
we have created a specialist group
that will take decisions on whether
to release or not, so the inspection
process has total integrity.”
Sars has tried to build in as
much speed as possible, he added.
“And if you’re a trusted trader it
will be much faster. In addition,
your interventions will be greatly
reduced based on how much we
rely on the trader’s compliance.”
As part of the process, Sars
will continue to leverage the
organisation’s existing capabilities
like the contact centre.
“We’re also building a single
registration system so that Sars
will have a single view of the
client through all tax types and
Sars products.
“And while there is still
a channel for manual processes,
we are rapidly moving away
from that and working towards
getting most trade entities
on board – simultaneously
closing the door on the ability
to abuse the system in any way
whatsoever.”
It’s all an incremental process
but Sars is aiming to have its new
Cargo Management System and
inspection process up and running
by May this year.