Tax Disputes: How to reduce time and cost of an appeal

Tax disputes can be time-consuming and expensive, especially if an objection has been disallowed and the taxpayer needs to go on appeal. Taxpayers’ frustrations with the tax dispute process are often exacerbated when a taxpayer goes on appeal, only for SARS to concede during the appeal process that they were wrong all along. This often amounts to wasted time and costs for taxpayers.

In this webinar, Nico Theron (author of the Practical Guide To Handling Tax Disputes, published by LexisNexis South Africa), discussed a recent unreported case where in lieu of noting appeal, the tax consultant effectively eliminated the cost of an appeal for the taxpayer resulting in speedy resolution of the case. In addition, Nico gave a brief overview of the rules governing reasons for assessment, objection, outcome of objection and appeal in tax dispute and addressed a major issue highlighted in the Tax Ombud’s report regarding tax disputes.