News24 Business | eFiling hijackings: Tax ombud probes SARS over ‘systemic failures’

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The Office of the Tax Ombud will investigate whether the SA Revenue Service (SARS) did enough to help taxpayers whose eFiling profiles have been hijacked.

Typically, this involves scammers changing a taxpayer’s banking details to their own and filing fraudulent returns, creating refunds that are paid into their accounts. SARS later reverses these refunds, saddling an unsuspecting taxpayer with large tax debts.

The ombud previously bemoaned the fact that SARS will still hold the taxpayer liable for the tax debt — even if it is aware of the fraud.

The hijacking of eFiling profiles first became a problem in 2021, with tax practitioners reporting a surge in cases earlier this year.

The ombud said it received approval from Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana to conduct a review of possible systemic and emerging issues related to SARS’s alleged service failures to help these victims in time.

“This follows complaints and queries from taxpayers and industry bodies.”

The ombud will investigate how specific SARS systems operate, how it formulates and implements policies, practices or procedures, and how it applies or ignores legislative provisions.

SARS has been notified about the investigation.

The ombud will also speak to taxpayers affected by the issue and industry bodies. A report on the review containing recommendations will be submitted to Godongwana.

Last month, SARS reversed refunds paid to 30 000 taxpayers. Many clients of Standard Bank appear to have been affected. The tax agency later said that the issue related to its validation process for refunds. Some taxpayers had to provide supporting documents before their refunds were repaid.