The Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service v Airports Company South Africa

SARS conducted an income tax audit of Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) for the 2011 year of assessment and issued an additional assessment disallowing certain deductions and allowances (corporate social investment expenditure, s 13quin and s 12F allowances) and imposing understatement penalties and interest. ACSA objected timeously only to the disallowance of the CSI expenditure and later appealed on that limited basis. Years later, after new audits for subsequent tax years and with new legal representatives, ACSA sought to amend its original 2016 objection to include objections to the previously conceded allowances and penalties. As neither the Tax Administration Act nor the tax court rules provide for amendment of an objection, ACSA applied to the tax court for leave to amend under Uniform Rule 28(1), read with rule 42(1) of the tax court rules. The tax court granted leave to amend. SARS appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The appeal was upheld with costs. The tax court’s order was set aside and replaced with an order dismissing the taxpayer’s application to amend its objection.

The case authoritatively clarifies that objections under the Tax Administration Act are part of a pre‑litigation administrative process and cannot be amended using Uniform Rules of Court. It reinforces the principles of certainty and finality in tax administration and delineates the boundary between objection and appeal stages in tax disputes.