Overview

• The Office of the Tax Ombudsman is examining roughly 16,000 cases in which criminals seized taxpayer profiles, filed bogus returns and redirected refunds.
• Reported attack methods include targeted identity theft, stolen credentials, phishing campaigns and SIM-swap takeovers.
• Incidents are most prevalent in personal income tax profiles, with VAT accounts the next most affected.
• Individual losses have reached about R100,000, with a previously reported corporate case totaling roughly R20m.
• The draft review was moved from a July 7 public comment date to August 31 after Commissioner Edward Kieswetter sought an extension, with Sowetan reporting disagreements with Ombud Yanga Mputa as SARS maintains it bears no negligence or liability.