It seems there is a war brewing between Gold Leaf Tobacco Corporation and the South African Revenue Service following the preservation order ruling by a court.
The Noth Gauteng High Court ruled that the Zimbabwean cigarette manufacturer be slapped with a preservation order last week.
In the latest media reports, it is indicated that GLTC has cried foul over the freezing of its assets by the court while the South African tax authority conducts a probe into the company’s tax affairs.
On Friday, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted the SARS a preservation order against the controversial cigarette manufacturer.
IOL has it that the order was granted in terms of section 163 of the Tax Administration Act No 28 of 2011 against GLTC and its directors, Simon Rudland and Ebrahim Adamjee.
The order prevents the Zimbabwean-owned company and its directors from selling any of their assets while Sars continues with its investigation into tax avoidance.
A legal team acting on behalf of the embattled company and led by Raees Saint of Saint Attorneys told IOL that the tobacco group was displeased with the order.
“Gold Leaf maintains its innocence and shall continue its operations with complete transparency with the Revenue Authority, as it has always done,” Saint said.
“Gold Leaf will continue to make its excise and VAT contributions, amounting to more than R2 billion per annum.
“However, Gold Leaf wishes to emphasise that it was appalling to note that Sars has opted to rely on falsely crafted information in support of their application against Gold Leaf, a taxpayer who makes an enormous contribution to the fiscus and South African economy.
“Our client will oppose the application and protect its rights under the judicial system and we firmly believe that the truth, fairness, and justice will prevail.”
According to reports, Sars investigators told the court that they had evidence that Gold Leaf was involved in money laundering and may owe up to R3bn in undeclared income tax and VAT, and other taxes.
Gold Leaf holds the distribution rights for cigarette brands Voyager, RG, Chicago, Sahawi, Sharp, and Savannah, which are sold both in the South African and export markets.
Main Image: Go.d Leaf Tobacco/Twitter
