On 27 August 2025, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) issued a media release stating that, in pursuit of its strategic objective to collaborate with and through stakeholders to enhance the tax ecosystem, the SARS Commissioner and his team had held a consultative meeting with the Recognised Controlling Body Forum (RCBs).
The media release reads:
This is a platform for strategic engagement between SARS and the RCBs. SARS views this engagement as crucial to its higher purpose: to help build a capable state and uplift South Africans.
The leadership of RCBs comprises the South African Institute of Taxation (SAIT), South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), South African Institute of Public Accountants (SAIPA), Institute of Accounting and Commerce (IAC), Chartered Institute of Business Accountants (CIBA), Legal Practice Council (LPC), Chartered Government Institute of Southern Africa (CGISA), Financial Planning Institute (FPI), Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (CIMA), and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
The role and authority of RCBs are derived in law, especially in Chapter 18 of the Tax Administration Act. RCBs must strictly oversee the conduct of their tax practitioners to uphold trust and the integrity of the tax system. “As we expect of ourselves and our own employees, the conduct of tax practitioners must be irreproachable”, said the SARS Commissioner. Tax practitioners are vital enablers of South Africa’s fiscal system and fiscal citizenship. In guiding taxpayers, they are also central to SARS’ strategic intent to promote voluntary compliance. As ambassadors for tax compliance, tax practitioners’ personal tax affairs must also be compliant.
SARS and RCBs exchanged frank and robust conversations on crucial matters affecting them. They agreed that SARS must provide practitioners with clarity and certainty of their obligations, and make it easy for them to comply, especially when it comes to their registration to practice, as well as their ongoing renewal verification. SARS encouraged RCBs to obtain their members’ consent for sharing compliance status.
The meeting reaffirmed the critical role of SARS. In this regard, the contribution of the profession to the fulfilment of the organisation’s mandate to collect all revenue due, ensure optimal compliance with tax and customs legislation, protect our borders, and facilitate legitimate trade. As co-regulators of tax practitioners and intermediaries in tax and customs, RCBs have a responsibility not only to comply with tax and customs laws themselves, but also to help their members who are practitioners, and the taxpayers whom they serve, to comply - and to do so without fear or favour in a manner that remains professional and ethical.
On the way forward
This strategic partnership between SARS and RCBs aims to improve compliance levels and raise revenue, particularly from outstanding returns and debt already due. The success of this partnership ensures an equitable tax system where more taxpayers pay what is expected by law, instead of the burden being carried by those who are compliant. The SARS Commissioner called on RCBs’ chief executive officers (CEOs) to work with SARS and assist in regularising the tax affairs of their members and clients.
SARS and the RCBs agreed to explore ways in which the debt owed to the fiscus can be expeditiously collected within the provisions of the Tax Administration Act. To this end, SARS has committed to expediting its processes to allow for the collection of outstanding debt.
The SARS Commissioner appealed to the RCBs to help ensure that voluntary tax compliance was a standing boardroom agenda item.
To strengthen ongoing collaboration, SARS and the RCBs agreed to:
- Institute annual/biannual strategic engagements between the Commissioner and RCB CEOs.
- Reorient the operational forum to champion operational issues.
- Establish a Legal and Policy Committee to tackle legislative matters.
- Establish a technical committee to address system and data limitations.
For specific segments, SARS will re-establish a forum with its Large Business and International segments, as well as its High Wealth Individual segment. Regionally, SARS will reorient the regional committees to deal with daily operational issues.
SARS will also refine the Tax Practitioner Service Offering Model and engage with RCBs in its modernisation programme.
The SARS Commissioner thanked the RCBs for their key role in helping the country mobilise resources to meet national challenges. The SARS Commissioner said that “both parties emphasised the importance of constructive engagement on the challenges that they face; continued collaboration and open communication channels to foster a robust tax and customs environment. It is critical that we deepen voluntary compliance with concomitant benefit of fostering fiscal citizenship, moral and ethical conduct of the RCBs, tax practitioners and taxpayers”. Concluding, the SARS Commissioner said, “SARS’ collection of more than R23.3 trillion since its inception, is in no small measure because of the crucial role played by the RCBs”.