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Zuma tax case 'is private'
26/02/2007 08:22 - (SA)
Mandy Rossouw, Beeld
Johannesburg - ANC deputy president and possible presidential candidate Jacob Zuma has been taken to court for allegedly playing cat-and-mouse with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), to apparently avoid having to declare more payments received from Schabir Shaik.
Zuma was subpoenaed by SARS in Durban magistrate's court last week to submit information about his income that had not been declared, as well as a tax return that he has not yet handed in.
SARS has been negotiating with Zuma for some time in an attempt to get information from him, but he is apparently not obliging.
Die Burger heard that it's suspected he's reluctant to give the information to SARS because it could include sums paid to him by Shaik, which have not yet been tested in court.
If that is the case, it could provide the State with information for its corruption case against Zuma, in which it is alleged that Zuma received irregular payments from Shaik regarding the government's controversial arms deal.
Judge Herbert Msimang struck the case from the roll earlier, because the State was not ready to continue with its case.
Previous arrangements to get the information from Zuma, came to nothing when he did not produce the necessary documents.
Zuma's legal adviser said in reply to the court application by SARS that an agreement had been reached in terms of which the information would be supplied by Zuma, by April 8 this year.
It is alleged that if Zuma does not supply the documentation by that date, he will be charged with not declaring his income.
Adrian Lackay, spokesperson for the Revenue Service, refused to comment because of the confidentiality clause in the law.
"Because of the confidentiality clause in the Tax Act, no SARS official was allowed to disclose details on the tax matters of a taxpayer," he said.
Michael Hulley, Zuma's legal adviser, described the matter as "private" and didn't want to comment otherwise.
- Beeld
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