SARS is not backing down and has slapped the ANC with an R102 million bill for unpaid taxes. And since this is not the first time payment is requested, the high court had to get involved.
And in December 2021, the Gauteng High Court issued a civil judgment that instructed the sheriff to attach assets to the value of R102,546,580.76 in 10 days.
ANC deducts from staff but SARS receives no payment
The story broke when the Weekly SA Mirror wrote about how the ANC has 346 staff members at its Luthuli House headquarters but has not paid over employee tax, UIF or the skills development levy. However, all these payments were still deducted from those staff members.
And the trade union Nehawu – which organises ANC staff members – also confirmed that UIF and provident fund deductions were made but not paid over.
In 2021 the staff continuously protested at Luthuli House and the political party kept promising that payment will be made. But after months neither SARS nor the staff members have received any payment.
Tax invasions are causing frustration
The Political Party Funding Act and treasurer-general Paul Mashatile are coming down hard on the ANC. The Funding Act implements a rule that all donors must disclose any donation of more than R100 000. But according to Mashatile, the party will “table amendments” to lift the donation cap from R15 million annually to R100 million.
And Wayne Duvenage of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) also commented on the issue.
“We are frustrated at how certain entities – generally politically connected, including to the ANC – have been able to get away with non-payment to SARS. We saw this at SA Express, the Post Office, ANC and more. Imagine if a private airline or PostNet (a competitor to the Post Office) or the DA did not pay their taxes? All hell would be let loose and rightly so as the law is the law. In short, we believe SARS should not hesitate to go out against all perpetrators and hold their respective accounting officers to account with fines, jail time and more.”