COSATU demands tough action against corporate tax evasion

Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in KwaZulu-Natal has urged the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to take decisive action to tackle corporate tax evasion.

COSATU members marched to the SARS offices in Durban on Wednesday, demanding immediate reform of the country's tax system.

The union believes workers are being overtaxed, from wages to severance packages, pension withdrawals and retirement savings.

COSATU's Edwin Mkhize says the rising cost of living has also made the situation worse.

He believes that SARS is taking a tougher stance on ordinary workers than on businesses.

“There are a lot of companies here, some of them international companies that call them Foreign Direct Investors. They have their own ways of avoiding tax. We have a lot of malls. When you go there, you find that you pay in cash. You don't even get a receipt. It is not recorded anywhere. If it is recorded, it is just recorded on a piece of paper, and then you can see that their activities are about avoiding tax.”

Union says workers bear unfair tax burden amid rising cost of living

He says that some businesses try to avoid tax even by hiring people undocumented alien citizen.

Mkhize feels the average worker cannot afford a holiday, as everything from their salary to severance packages, pension withdrawals and retirement savings is subject to certain taxes.

“The experience of a member who came to my office, who should have got something over R600,000 when he was retrenched at work, but R272,000 of that member's money went to SARS. I'm telling you something I can prove to you.”

SARS gets memo as activists demand immediate tax reform

SARS official Sanele Nkuna accepted the workers' memorandum.

“I will submit it to my principals. They will study it accordingly, and then they will come back with their findings as far as the memorandum is concerned. We hope that all other citizens and workers, if they have anything to do with SARS, and they are coming to submit these memorandums, they will come in the same format as you have come.”

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