Chairperson, my information is that the Bill is being debated against the announcement that Sars has been honoured as one of the world's best services by a World Bank panel. If that is the case: congratulations.
Oliver Holmes once said, "I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilisation"; let me add: only when money is spent wisely and correctly. In this Bill, Treasury has strived to follow international best practice. We are breaking with Commonwealth tradition to have different tax laws and are, at least, starting to adopt the better approach of a single law that provides the administrative and procedural rules that are common to all taxes.
In this Bill, there is an attempt to use a more plain language drafting style in an effort to make the law more understandable. We welcome the introduction of the Tax Ombud. We are now joining a select number of countries where this has been introduced. The independence of the Tax Ombud will be judged by the taxpaying fraternity, but it is an effective tool to assist tax administration.
South Africa's debt will be over R1 trillion next year, and our revenue- taking around R800 billion, so we shall need every cent of taxes. Ronald Reagan said: "We don't have a $1 trillion debt because we have not taxed enough. We have a $1 trillion debt because we spend too much." This Tax Administration Bill strengthens Sars' powers to collect tax overall and will become an important tool to make Sars even more effective. We shall support the Bill. [Applause.]