#WATCH I In this lunchtime panel discussion, tax specialist Carmen Westermeyer CA(SA), will unpack the questions below with Gert van Heerden, Senior Manager: Legal Services and Systemic Investigations from the Office of the Tax Ombud (OTO).

Improving the Tax System via Systemic Investigations

Overview

The following questions will be unpacked:

• Is it possible for the OTO to improve the services provided to taxpayers by SARS?
• What exactly is a systemic issue for the OTO’s purposes?
• In what different ways can the OTO identify systemic issues?
• What happens after a systemic issue is identified?
• How does the OTO treat complaints that relate to systemic issues?
• What kind of systemic issues have the OTO identified in the past and how did their resolution improve the tax system?
• How can taxpayers inform the OTO if they believe there is a systemic issue which they would like the OTO to investigate?

Competencies developed in this webinar

After attending this webinar, you will be able to:

• Understand the impact of systemic issues on your client’s tax affairs.
• Advise clients on which issues can be escalated to the OTO as systemic.
• Secure access to information in a fair and unbiased manner.
• Ensure your clients get quality and timely service from SARS.
• Assist clients to access the services of the OTO.

Presenters

Carmen Westermeyer

BCom(Honours Accounting) [UND] CA(SA)
 
Carmen Westermeyer graduated in 2001 from the University of Natal, Durban (now UKZN), with a BCom Honours degree in Accounting and completed her articles with PwC in 2004. She has been a member of SAICA since then.

Carmen stayed with PwC for a year as Assistant Manager, venturing into the world of commerce in 2006. In 2008, she was appointed as a lecturer at UKZN and coordinated the Taxation 300 course until December 2010. From 1 January 2010, Carmen took over the role of Academic Leader for the Taxation Department, as well as the coordination of the Postgraduate Taxation Programme. During her time as Academic Leader she had numerous opportunities to liase with SAICA on issues relating to the ITC, as well as being a member of the Tax Committee.

In December 2012 she started running ad hoc training courses for members of the profession. From December 2013, she moved into commercial training and consulting on a full-time basis. She has been involved in various training activities, such as the SAICA SMP training in 2014 and the FASSET Budget and Tax Update in 2015 and 2016.

Gert van Heerden

Senior Manager: Legal Services and Systemic Investigations, Office of the Tax Ombud

Gert van Heerden was appointed as the Senior Manager: Legal Services at the OTO in May 2015. He has 11 years’ post-admission experience in the legal field specialising in taxation. His key areas of interest are tax dispute resolution, debt recoveries and administrative law.

After completing his articles and being admitted as an attorney in 2008, Gert joined SARS as a legal advisor in the Legal Delivery and Support Department for the Gauteng Central Region. In 2010, he was appointed as the dedicated legal specialist for the High Complex Debt Team based at Megawatt Park in Sunninghill, Johannesburg. In May 2012, he was appointed as Manager of the Legal Delivery and Support Department in Gauteng Central.

In 2014, he joined the legal department of Afrocentric Health (Pty) Ltd, where he was Senior Manager until he joined the OTO. His academic background includes a BCom, LLB and LLM (International Trade), all from the North-West University.

CPD

This event and successful completion of the online assessment will secure 1 hours verifiable output Tax CPD points.

Event Investment

Complimentary access.

Payments and cancellations

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