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GEORGE NEWS - Taxpayers were queuing at the South African Revenue Services (Sars) offices in George this morning, Tuesday 2 March, when George Herald went to investigate a complaint.
Terry Cohen from Knysna posted his dissatisfaction on Facebook earlier this week. He said he had to stand in the sun for about two hours during a recent visit. "If you are planning to visit Sars in George, remember to take coffee, donuts, sunscreen and an easy chair. You will be standing in the sun for a minimum of two hours," he said.
Cohen wanted to know why they had to stand in the sun when the chairs inside were marked accordingly for social distancing. "The 30-odd people outside could have each stretched out for a snooze."
No luck online
Sars announced on 24 December that all its offices would be closed until 4 January due to Covid-19 and no member of the public would be allowed to enter any of the offices.
The public had to make use of online services and where appointments were needed, these also had to be booked online.
However, some unhappy taxpayers in the queue on Tuesday said their own and their bookkeepers' efforts to get the service they needed online proved fruitless.
It was not possible to book an appointment online as the website declined with a notification that "There are not available appointments at the selected branch".
"If I could have been assisted, I would not have been here," said Janke Marais. "When I log in, I get an error message."
Juanita Eksteen said her bookkeeper has been trying to do a tax directive online, but could not get it done.
She said they phoned the Sars call centre to escalate the problem, but they have 21 days in which to revert back, so it is a waiting game.
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George Herald heard that the officials are working virtually. They are trying to assist clients while adhering to the national Covid-19 policy. Members of the public are unfortunately not allowed to enter at the same time.
Sars spokesperson Siphiti Sibeko acknowledged receipt of the newspaper's query and promised a response later.
While people are queueing outside, the reception area is empty.
Anton Fisher from the Sars communications section responded as follows:
Due to the Covid-19 restrictions imposed on all citizens and organisations, Sars branches have been offering an online service through which taxpayers could make an appointment for a virtual consultation with one of the branch agents.
The online e-booking system was to protect taxpayers and SARS staff from infection.
However, all SARS branches are open to assist taxpayers even though they have not made such online appointments.
Some taxpayers often rush to meet their obligations at the last minute. This causes unnecessary bottlenecks and it inconveniences other taxpayers.
While this might not be the case with the taxpayer who has written to you, it is something that negatively affects our branch operations.
A case in point is the large influx of taxpayers who needed assistance just days before the deadline with their auto assessments and other tax matters.
Queues are necessary at all branches to screen taxpayers for the service offering they need and to check whether they could rather use an online platform such as eFiling.
They also have to be screened as part of the Covid-19 protocols and there was sanitiser available at the branch. But in this particular case no taxpayer stood outside in the sun in a queue for two hours. Neither did they have to wait for two hours once inside the branch.
Sars appeals to taxpayers to appreciate the huge volumes of taxpayers who visit our branches (especially before deadlines) and that Sars remains keenly aware of the need to assist all taxpayers who arrive and to do so in a reasonable time frame, which did happen in this particular case.
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