Access to the Special Voluntary Disclosure Program (SVDP) closed at the end of August 2017 and the Government netted a little over R1 billion in respect of applications evaluated thus far. Two thousand applications were submitted under the SVDP. Whilst this is not the final amount as SDVP applications are still being evaluated, there is little doubt that National Treasury was expecting to generate more income from the programme. The Davis Tax Committee for example proposed this programme and expected the Fiscus would collect up to R10 billion.

Tax experts have put the disappointing results down to the complexity of the application (prescribed documentation was required by the South African Revenue Service [SARS] and the Reserve Bank) and
the fact that if clients opted not to make use of the SDVP, their advisors were obliged to inform the authorities.

It would also appear that talk of a tax revolt may be gathering momentum, which meant that individuals seemed to weigh up their options.

The SDVP was tabled as the final opportunity for taxpayers to regularise their affairs in terms of undisclosed off-shore assets and income. From September 2017 the automatic exchange of information between revenue authorities from over seventy countries began and is expected to expose noncompliance on an unprecedented global scale. Further 'Panama Papers' style leaks are also occurring and we just witnessed the release of leaked financial records in the 'Paradise Papers' and no doubt SARS will keep a close eye on them.

CA(SA) ARTICLE AMENDED BY MAZARS