The SAIT Tax Administration and Dispute Management Technical Work Group’s submission proposes key legislative reforms to improve fairness and efficiency in South Africa’s tax system, including aligning refund mechanisms for withholding taxes on royalties and interest with those for dividends, clarifying that tax assessment withdrawals under section 98 of the Tax Administration Act (TAA) are valid post-prescription, and refining the interpretation of “adequate security” in suspension of payment requests under section 164 to prevent SARS from demanding upfront payments in bona fide disputes. The submission also calls for aligning the objection and payment due dates to avoid prejudicing taxpayers seeking to suspend payment before formally disputing an assessment.
