WHEN SARS UNLAWFULLY ACCESSES YOUR BANK ACCOUNT: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AS A TAXPAYER

SARS has intensified revenue collection efforts, including appointing third-party institutions such as banks to recover outstanding tax debts. After issuing a final letter of demand, SARS may directly debit your bank account to settle liabilities.

However, if SARS executes this process unlawfully, taxpayers have limited options for redress. Understanding your legal rights and available remedies is critical when facing such aggressive collection actions.

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MORE INFORMATION ON SARS LETTERS OF FINAL DEMAND AND DEBT COLLECTION

For a SARS Letter of Final Demand to be valid, it must be properly delivered to the taxpayer and clearly outline both the permitted recovery steps and available relief measures. Missing these requirements renders the letter invalid.

If SARS has accessed your bank account without proper procedure, contacting SARS’ Debt Department or the contact centre may help, but often their responsiveness is limited compared to their aggressive collection actions.

SARS increasingly uses banks to recover tax debts. The best defense is to maintain full tax compliance. If you find yourself targeted, act quickly by submitting a Suspension of Payment request to protect your bank balance while resolving the matter.

When legal engagement is necessary, our experienced team of tax attorneys and chartered accountants provides expert negotiation with SARS, assisting clients with debt compromises and deferred payment arrangements. We guarantee legal professional advice.

IN THE MEDIA

When SARS Unlawfully Help Themselves To Your Bank Balance

WHEN SARS UNLAWFULLY HELP THEMSELVES TO YOUR BANK BALANCE

Everybody knows SARS is under collection pressure and they have grown rather fond of appointing 3^rd parties, such as banks, to recover outstanding tax debts directly, which leaves taxpayers stunned. This is a quick and effective debt recovery measure, but the question is what about the legality of such appointment?

MEET THE TEAM

André Daniels
Head of Tax Controversy & Dispute Resolution
Admitted Attorney, LLB

Jashwin Baijoo
Associate Director
Head of Strategic Engagement & Compliance
Admitted Attorney, LLB, LLM (Tax)
Master Tax Practitioner (SAIT)
Professional Tax Specialist (SA)
SAIPA Tax Committee Member

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Our specialist tax debt relief team is comprised of both tax attorneys and chartered accountants, to ensure the legally correct and most beneficial compliance solution is created for each and every client. We ensure legal professional privilege in all SARS debt relief negotiations, focusing on more complex and high value tax debt engagements with SARS. To ensure the benefit of our services outweigh the professional costs, we do not engage on matters where the tax debt owed to SARS is under R150 000,00.