Edward Kieswetter, the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has shed some light on the decision by the revenue service to take a closer look at the money that South Africans hold in overseas accounts.
South Africa has an agreement with approximately 160 countries to automatically share information with each other, with only about 87 countries sending actual data, said Kieswetter in an interview with ENCA.
Says Kieswetter: “From those countries, we have become aware that we have around 1.38 million reportable records that we have received for the reporting period 2019.”
Kieswetter believes that there could be a significant amount of money owing to SARS, potentially in the billions.
The Commissioner clarified that the amount of money held in overseas accounts could be larger, and that not all of the money was taken out South Africa illegally. Some of the funds would not have had to be disclosed to SARS.
“What we are saying to South Africans is that if you have taken money offshore, make sure you have disclosed it, because we have opened a window for taxpayers to come to us through a special voluntary disclosure programme,” said Kieswetter.
When he presented the latest revenue collection data from SARS last week Kieswetter also indicated that the revenue authority is closely watching a few high-net-worth individuals who live lavish lifestyles but have no clear streams of income.
SARS is able to access data that tracks key items such as expensive property and luxury cars, according to Kieswetter.
The Commissioner said more can be learnt about the finances of wealthy individuals from their assets and liabilities as opposed to their income and expenses that are declared to SARS.
In some instances a civil investigation about an individual who is withholding income from SARS turns into a criminal investigation as the revenue service learns more about their illegal business.