Montana slams SARS over 'insane' R55 million tax debt claim

Former Head of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), Lucky Montana, said he doesn’t owe a cent to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) after it publicly revealed he has a tax debt of R55 million.

Montana held a media briefing in Ekurhuleni this afternoon (Monday) to respond to the SARS briefing on Saturday, where the revenue service took the extraordinary step of publicly disclosing the tax debt.

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SARS stated it was forced into this move to preserve its integrity after Montana publicly accused the agency of fraud.

The revenue service alleges that between 2009 and 2019, a number of undeclared income amounts were deposited into Montana’s bank accounts. This period coincides with the time he was heading the state-owned passenger rail agency.

Montana disputes the figure, arguing that more than 80% of the quoted R55 million is inclusive of accumulated interest and penalties.

“Even amoshisa (loan sharks) in the streets they don’t charge those rates," Montana said. "Mashonisa’s who take bank cards from our parents, they don’t charge the penalties that SARS imposes. It’s so unreasonable and I think this is insane, the Commissioner of SARS should be ashamed of himself that they are doing that to ordinary South Africans.”

Montana claims his capital tax burden, without the penalties, is around R8 million, a figure which he is also disputing.