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.