In the Tax Administration Act, South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) sets out the requirements for the public officer of a company. A public officer is an individual who is residing in South Africa and must be a registered taxpayer with SARS. The individual representative who is approved by SARS must be a senior official of the company. Should the company not have a senior official residing in South Africa, then any suitable person can fulfil this role.

Furthermore the individual must be duly appointed as the public officer by the directors of the company within one month after it begins to carry on business or acquires an office in South Africa.

The public officer is responsible for all acts, matters or things relating to the company under the various Tax Acts. These duties could include the following:

  • Attending to the various tax registrations such as VAT, Payroll taxes;
  • Attending to all tax matters of the entity, including submission of the tax returns for VAT, Employee’s tax, Employee reconciliations, Income tax, Dividends tax and Provisional taxes;
  • The individual is also responsible for the timeous payments of taxes due to SARS; or
  • Notifying SARS of any change of the registered particulars such as registered address, year-end change, name change, verifying bank details.

When it happens that the senior official or director who is appointed as the public officer resigns from the company, a new public officer must be appointed and SARS must be notified of the change within 21 business days of it taking effect.

Another practical aspect that is often overlooked is in circumstances when the company no longer requires to be registered for a tax type or ceases trading completely. It is also the duty of the public officer to attend to the necessary deregistration of the relevant tax types with SARS. It is important to bear in mind that even when a company has been finally deregistered by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), its tax registrations with SARS are not automatically terminated.

In conclusion, it is important that the company at all times has a duly appointed person fulfilling the duties required of a public officer. Should you require any assistance to verify the public officer details as registered with SARS, or would like to attend to a change of public officer, we recommend that you contact your Tax Practitioner for assistance.

Trusha Kanjee

Senior Tax Compliance Officer, Johannesburg

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