The following information is provided by South African Revenue Service (SARS):
(1)(2)(a)(b)(i)(ii) Due to the taxpayer confidentiality provisions contained in Section 69 of the Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011, SARS is prohibited from disclosing any taxpayer information to any person other than a SARS official. SARS is, therefore, unfortunately not in a position to respond to the above request in relation to any tax matter.
In general the VAT Refund process is subject to certain risk rules and follows a standardised process in line with legislation.
These steps include but are not limited to:
As indicated above, all reviews are conducted based on the risk identified by the system and all procedures and legislation are adhered to at all times in dealing with identified cases.
The TAA, chapter 5, Sec 40, differentiates between an Audit and a Verification. Once again, the risk rules determine whether a case will be Verified or Audited. Sec 42 of the TAA requires that a taxpayer be kept informed of progress with an Audit. The same obligations do not exist in the case of a Verification.