What the Tax Ombud Can Do for You
With tax filing season upon us from this month, now is a good time to remind ourselves of the valuable role played by the Tax Ombud’s office in assisting consumers who have service-related disputes with the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
The current ombud is Yanga Mputa, who became the first female Tax Ombud in July 2023, taking over from Judge Bernard Ngoepe.
The office is a statutory one and independent of SARS. According to its website, it provides you with “a fair and simple way to seek a resolution for a service, procedure or administrative dispute you have already unsuccessfully tried to resolve through SARS”.
The function of the ombud is not to intervene if you believe the amount SARS requires you to pay after being assessed or any interest or penalties imposed on you are too high. There is a separate objection/dispute process for that through SARS and the tax courts (see https://www.sars.gov.za/individuals/what-if-i-do-not-agree/objections/). The ombud deals with complaints about poor procedure, service or administration, “striving to ensure that you receive the professional service and fair treatment you as a taxpayer are entitled to”.
The Tax Administration Act authorises the Tax Ombud to, among other things:
- Review a complaint and, if necessary, resolve it through mediation or conciliation;
- Facilitate your access to complaint resolution mechanisms within SARS to address complaints;
- Identify and review systemic and emerging issues that impact negatively on taxpayers; and
- Make a recommendation to SARS on how a complaint should be resolved.
A common complaint to the ombud, which the office is usually successful in resolving, is of delays in taxpayers being refunded what is owed them.
Case study
The following case study was reported in the March 2025 edition of the Tax Ombud’s “Fairness for All” newsletter.
In December 2022, a taxpayer submitted his tax return based on pre-populated information without checking the accuracy of the information beforehand. After submitting the return, the taxpayer realised that it contained three IRP5 forms that should not have been included. This error led to an assessment indicating that the taxpayer owed SARS R48 992, which was R12 050 more than he calculated he actually owed, R36 942.
The taxpayer promptly paid the lower amount and lodged an objection against the balance of R12 050, asking SARS for a suspension of payment of the disputed amount. SARS reviewed the objection, agreed with the taxpayer, and allowed it. “This decision should have triggered the automatic cancellation of the suspension of payment request, which should have led to the issuance of a reduced assessment reflecting the correct tax liability,” the newsletter says.
However, SARS did not issue the reduced assessment. With its system still reflecting an outstanding balance of R12 050, SARS initiated debt collection steps against the taxpayer. This involved appointing a third party, a debt collection agency, to recover the outstanding amount.
On receiving and reviewing the taxpayer’s complaint, the Office of the Tax Ombud recommended to SARS that it immediately stop all tax debt collection measures and process the reduced assessment without further delay to reflect the correct outstanding balance of nil, which SARS did.
Where to complain
If you have a complaint, you must first try to resolve the issue with SARS. If you are unsuccessful and the complaint falls within the ombud’s mandate, go to the website at www.taxombud.gov.za and download a complaint form. The office can be reached on ShareCall number 0800 662 837, or you can email complaints@taxombud.gov.za
