Western Cape Regional Stakeholder Meeting Minutes

Transcription

1 Western Cape Regional Stakeholder Meeting Minutes Date: 10 June 2015 Time: 10:00-12:40 Venue: Bellville Branch Office Present Attendees: RCB REPRESENTATIVES Albert Richter Bruce Hooper Christiaan Vorster Colin Wolfsohn Craig Hirst Dawn Bouwer Hugh Knight Kneale Caine Richard Conry Shafiek Dollie Shafiek Tassiem SARS REPRESENTATIVES Benjamin De Klerk Christo Meyer David Lombaard Ediona Brown Gail Hamman Janine Titus Jolynn April Leslie Lekas Lusanda Tsolekile Mark Dirkse Michelle Wolfe Mymoena Londt Ndumi Lumkwana Shanaaz Soeker Tracey Ford Yolandi Sauls Zamuxolo Khonzani Riaan Lesch Present: An attendance register was circulated and signed by all. Item No: 1. Welcome & Opening: ITEM The chairperson opened the meeting and welcomed all present. Attendees were given the opportunity to introduce themselves. RESPONSIBLE PERSON 2. Notice of Meeting:

2 The notice of meeting as timeously circulated, was taken as read. 3. Apologies: None. 4. Confirmation of Agenda: The agenda as circulated was confirmed. No additional matters were added. 5. Acceptance of minutes from previous stakeholder meeting: The minutes of the previous meeting was taken as read and unanimously accepted. 6. Matters arising from previous meeting: SARS SOPS It was noted that RCB s still do not receive notice of changes to SOPS. It was noted that a national approach to circulate such notices is not yet in place. Benjamin will follow up on this. Mark will in the meantime make arrangements to notify RCB s locally of more important changes as an interim arrangement. and Mark Dirkse 7. Overview and discussion of latest developments at SARS 1. Review of RCB s provided detailed information of a review currently being done regarding the relationship with RCB s within the ambit of the TAA. This is necessary to ensure the envisaged legislative framework works well for all parties. Representatives of RCB s were requested to please request their members to inform SARS of any Tax Preparers they become aware of utilizing the services available to registered Tax Practitioners. This include all instances they become aware of where Tax Preparers operate for gain and outside their mandate. After discussion it was agreed that SARS should communicate to the general public that only registered Tax Practitioners are allowed to render Tax services to clients and receive payment for such services. Any other person receiving payment for Tax services need to be reported to SARS immediately. It was also noted that old PR numbers should no longer be used by Tax Practitioners.

3 2. efiling Benjamin confirmed that the override functionality issue on efiling has been resolved. 3. Service Channels The chairperson advised that the document indicating the various channels which need to be used for the different types of Tax Practitioner queries has been drafted and will be distributed once approved. It was also noted that we should continue to assist each other to use the Branch Channel as far as possible only for issues that cannot be resolved via one of the other channels. This will have a meaningful positive impact on the waiting time for an appointment. 4. Appointment service Mark Dirkse Mark Dirkse A comprehensive presentation indicating various types of requests received, challenges faced and changes made to the appointment process was done by Mark Dirkse. Highlights include the following: The appointment requests handled during the past 3 months averaged at 128 per day between Cape Town, Bellville, Mitchells Plain and Paarl. Waiting period for appointment should on average not exceed 10 working days. Turn-around time for responding to appointment requests should on average not exceed 3 working days. Currently the response time is 24 hours. Members of RCB s to be requested not to submit more than one appointment request at a time, irrespective of which mailbox it was submitted to. Additional queries (not indicated in the original request) may be resolved during an appointment if there is sufficient time left and if the Practitioner does have the necessary POA to deal with the tax affairs of the client. Appointments will no longer be cancelled if queries get resolved prior to the appointment. The time may be utilized to deal with other matters.

4 Late arrival for appointments will not be tolerated as it impacts negatively on other practitioners. Tax Practitioners were requested to ensure all Taxpayer profiles are merged before visiting the Branch Office to update banking details. Visits to Branch Offices to as far as possible be limited to queries that cannot be addressed via the Contact Centre, efiling and PCC mailbox channels. A document outlining the different channels and which functions need to be performed where will be circulated as soon as possible (see earlier remarks). VAT Registrations to always first be done on efiling to reduce appointment time from on average 60 to 30 minutes. Having said this, practitioners were requested to make sure that all fields are properly completed. If the online application was not done properly, a full manual registration is required at the branch together with all supporting documents. This includes completion of a VAT 101. Inconsistencies at Branch Offices will be addressed to ensure uniformity within the Tax Practitioner units at all Branch Offices. Such examples must please immediately be escalated to the relevant branch manager. Practitioners are encouraged to make use of the practitioner appointment system for VAT registrations and not the manual booking system available at branches. The last mentioned booking system is intended for vendors who do not have a representative. 8. Discussion of issues raised and not yet covered 1. Mobile units SAIPA Requested that an additional person should be added to the mobile units to deal with Tax Practitioner queries only. This should include an appointment system as well. It was noted that technology available at these offices is constantly being upgraded. The issue of catering for practitioners specifically will be taken up with the Engagement Executive for consideration.

5 2. SMS Messages sent to clients SAICA requested that the 1 st digit of the Tax Number be added to the SMS notifications to assist Practitioners to determine the Tax type. It was also requested that first contact should be made with the Tax Practitioner and not directly with the client. In this regard it was noted that follow up messages usually go out only after all other earlier attempts to get compliance failed. 3. General remarks All attendees were reminded that the stakeholder meetings focus primarily on principles and impactful issues. Whilst specific examples are always welcome to assist in looking at the issue for consideration, individual cases will not be discussed in the meeting. RCB s are, however, still welcome to raise such specific instances directly with the relevant branch manager. 9. Date of next meeting The date and venue of the next meeting to be confirmed and communicated. 10. Closure Willie thanked all present for their attendance and the good relationship built over the years. The commitment to work together to solve issues in a constructive spirit is sincerely appreciated. The meeting also noted that the 4 regional executives in Branch Operations will be taking up responsibility for a different region as from July The changes are as follows: will move from region 4 to region 1 Godfrey Modise will move from region 2 to region 4 Deepa Moodley will move from region 3 to region 2 Frank Starke will move from region 1 to region 3 Godfrey s contact details will be circulated to RCB s under separate cover. The date of the next meeting will be communicated in due course in consultation with Godfrey.

6 The meeting was declared closed at 12:40. Chairperson: Date: 10 June 2015