The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has issued a huge tax bill to controversial businessman Salim Essa. Picture: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has issued a huge tax bill to controversial businessman Salim Essa.
The bill, according to reports, is around R2.6 billion and was disclosed late Sunday evening.
Essa was linked to the controversial Gupta family and it was alleged that he would assist the family secure deals with State Owned Entities.
The tax bill issued by Sars has a deadline of February 13, and according to the audit, Essa under-declared his income for seven years, between 2012 to 2019.
According to Sunday World, Sars found that while Essa’s tax compliance was not outstanding, it was misleading.
Tidimalo Mahlangu, Sars investigation manager said: “this is not an accurate reflection of his compliance, as an analysis of information during the audit revealed that the taxpayer under-declared his income and was therefore non-compliant.”
Sars argues that there needs to be adjustments to Essa’s tax bill over these years and these differ vastly from year to year, for example his tax liability for 2012 is R1.5 million and R1.5 billion in 2016.
In August, Essa was hit with a R5 million blow, as Chief Justice Raymond Zondo demanded the R5m as security of costs after he launched a challenge to parts of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture’s final report.
The move by Justice Zondo emerged in papers filed at the North Gauteng High Court in Essa’s legal battle against the commission’s adverse findings, implicating him in wrongdoing relating to State Owned Entities such as Eskom, SA Airways and Transnet.
”The applicant (Essa) is directed to provide security for the respondents' (commission’s) costs in the review application under the above case number, in the amount of R5m to the registrar of this court within 10 days from the date of this order,” according to the inquiry’s court papers.
In the event that Essa does not pay the R5m, the commission wants to be granted leave to supplement its papers and apply for an order for dismissal of Essa's review application.
Essa is currently based in Dubai and said that he left South Africa to find a better life for him and his family, according to Daily Maverick.
He has always insisted the he did not run away from the country in order to avoid prosecution and states that he is not a fugitive.
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