Sars set to get private gurus

Panel of consulting firms will assist taxman in tackling non-compliance.

- Jashwin Baijoo

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) announced in a new tender the appointment of a panel of specialist tax consulting firms for five years.

This means Sars will immediately be able to gain access to the best private tax minds in the country to help catch tax evaders, tackle non-compliance, and acquire additional tax brainpower to deal with highly complex and sophisticated tax structures.

The tender "RFP15/2024-Appointment of a panel of service providers to provide tax consulting services to SARS for a period of five (5) years" is unclear on how many panel members will be appointed.

However, each panel member can submit the résumés of up to 88 tax specialists, ranging from junior to senior professionals, which is explainable given that the tender covers all tax types and a vast array of technical and compliance-related items.

Sars addresses two challenges