An SA Revenue Service tax auditor failed to do a proper verification when auditing the company of businesswoman Shauwn Mpisane, the Durban Regional Court heard.
|||Durban - An SA Revenue Service tax auditor failed to do a proper verification when auditing the company of businesswoman Shauwn Mpisane, the Durban Regional Court heard on Thursday.
Rafik Bhana, SC, for Mpisane, said Waheeda Osman did not do a proper verification because she only relied on invoices.
Osman admitted in court that she did not calculate the total for the supplier's Vat listing, Vat output listing, and vendor and supplier listing.
She was auditing cash purchases from various suppliers to Mpisane's company.
Mpisane is accused of inflating invoices by more than R5 million in an attempt to cut her tax bill.
She is also accused of violating the Close Corporations Act by remaining the sole member of Zikhulise Cleaning, Maintenance, and Transport CC when she had a previous fraud conviction.
She has pleaded not guilty.
Osman told the court that when she audited DGW Consulting cc, she did not check the total of the supplier because she would have to look at Zikhulise's ledger, which she did not have access to.
When Bhana asked Osman if she had records of the verification process, she said she did not have them because they were part of the Alternative Dispute Resolution process.
Bhana put it to Osman that she did not have the records because she was hiding something, or had failed to do a proper job.
Osman denied this, saying she was not required to keep the records because they were part of the ADR process and the file was kept in Pretoria.
Bhana submitted an e-mail sent by Mpisane's accountant Trevor Dalton, asking that invoices by supplier DSD Trading cc be excluded, as he had not relied on them.
Osman came under fire for not mentioning the e-mail, as she had knowledge of it, but she said did not recall the letter when she gave evidence.
The trial continues on May 20. - Sapa