SC: Exporters with Pending Applications Prior to Rule 96(10) Omission Entitled to IGST Refund  ||  Bombay HC to Scrap Law College Intake Cuts if Mumbai University Follows Prescribed Timelines  ||  Delhi HC Orders Removal of Derogatory Online Content Targeting Actress Tabu  ||  Madras HC Orders Interim Elected Panel to Manage State Bar Council Affairs Until New Committee Forms  ||  Patna HC: Whatsapp Messages Need Section 65B Certificate, Oral Evidence is Insufficient  ||  Allahabad HC: Denying Maintenance That Forces Wife into Destitution Violates Art 21 Right to Dignity  ||  Rajasthan HC Takes Suo Motu Notice of Structural Defects After IIT Bombay Warns Dome May Collapse  ||  Bombay HC: 0.1 Mg Above Alcohol Limit is Insufficient to Warrant a Drunken Driving Trial  ||  Supreme Court: Marking a Document as an Exhibit Does Not Prove its Contents  ||  Supreme Court: Unpaid Consideration Alone Does Not Invalidate a Sale Deed    

The Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service vs. Airports Company for South Africa - (07 Oct 2022)

An objection is part of the pre-litigation administrative process and is not a pleading

Direct Taxation

The issues in present appeal were whether it was permissible to amend the grounds of objection against an additional assessment issued by the Appellant, the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS), after the expiry of the periods prescribed in the tax court rules and whether such an order is appealable.

As neither the Act, nor the tax court rules, make provision for the amendment of an objection to an additional assessment, the taxpayer applied to the tax court, Johannesburg for leave to amend in terms of Uniform Rule 28(1), read with Rule 42(1). An objection is part of the pre-litigation administrative process and is not a pleading. It is also not a document filed in connection with judicial proceedings envisaged in terms of Uniform Rule 28(1). Furthermore, Rule 42(1) only comes into play, when the tax court rules do not make provision for a procedure in the tax court. Rule 42(1) does not apply to those procedures governed under Part B of the tax court rules, which constitute pre-litigation administrative procedures such as an objection to an assessment. Therefore, the tax court erred in granting leave to the taxpayer to amend its notice of objection in terms of Uniform Rule 28.

The effect of the amendment sought by the taxpayer would be to extend the period for the filing of an objection (or the filing of new grounds of objection) long after the peremptory periods prescribed in Section 104 of the TAA, read with Rule 7, have expired. The prescribed time periods provided for in the TAA, read with Rule 7, taken together with the ability of a taxpayer to secure an extension of time within the permitted parameters, achieves a fair balance between SARS and the taxpayer. To permit amendments to an objection would unjustifiably undermine the principles of certainty and finality, which underpin a revenue authority’s duty to collect taxes.

Tags : ASSESSMENT   OBJECTION   ALLOWABILITY  

Share :        

Disclaimer | Copyright 2026 - All Rights Reserved