South African Revenue Service
Revenue service of the South African government / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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25°46′22.06″S 28°13′56.13″EThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the revenue service of the South African government. It administers the country's tax system and customs service, and enforces compliance with related legislation.[2] It is governed by the SARS Act 34 of 1997, which established it as "an organ of state within the public administration, but as an institution outside the public service."[1] It thus has a significant degree of administrative autonomy, although it is under the policy control of the Minister of Finance.[1] Effectively, SARS manages, administers, and implements the tax regime as designed by the Minister and National Treasury.
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1 October 1997; 26 years ago (1997-10-01) |
Preceding agencies |
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Jurisdiction | Government of South Africa |
Headquarters | Lehae la Sars Building Pretoria, South Africa |
Employees | 12 479 (2020/21)[1] |
Minister responsible | |
Agency executive |
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Parent department | National Treasury |
Key document | |
Website | sars |
SARS was established in 1997 by a merger of the customs and inland revenue departments, at the recommendation of the Katz Commission, which had been instituted to review the South African tax system for the post-apartheid era. In subsequent years, under the leadership of Pravin Gordhan, SARS gained a reputation for effectiveness.[3][4][5][6] However, between 2014 and 2018, the agency's tax collection and investigative capacities were severely undermined, or even "decimated,"[7] as a result of a restructuring which has been called a "premeditated offensive,"[8] allegedly calculated to enable the capture of SARS.[9][10][11][12] Such allegations were investigated by the 2018 Nugent Commission.