The Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) is advising taxpayers to remain abreast of the latest changes made to the Revenue Administration Act 2024 (RAA), following amendments made to section 15, 19 and 34 of the act related to objection.
Effective 1 January 2025, a taxpayer dissatisfied with a revenue decision may, within ninety days after the date of issue of the notice of the decision, serve an objection in writing on the Commissioner General against the decision.
The objection served must state the full details plus the grounds of the objection, and must be accompanied by relevant supporting documents.
If no supporting documents or evidence are provided along with the objection to the Commissioner General, the objection will be disallowed on the grounds that Section 15 (1) and 19 (1) has not been adhered to.
During the objection phase, the Commissioner General may requests for additional documents including but not limited to source documents such as receipts, invoices, contracts and bank statements.
The taxpayer may also request for an extension of the time through the Commissioner General, whom if satisfied that there is reasonable cause, may grant the extension, and shall serve a notice of the decision to the person as soon as practicable.
Following receipt of the objection and appropriate documents, the Commissioner General shall issue an objection decision to the taxpayer within one hundred and twenty days after receiving the notice of objection.
To note, prior to the amendment of Section 15 of the Revenue Administration Act, taxpayers were provided 60 days to serve an objection in writing to the Commissioner General and there was no specific timeframe for the Commissioner General to make a decision regarding the objection.
In circumstances where the taxpayer objects to part of an amount assessed pursuant to section 15, the amount that is not objected must be settled by the taxpayer. In addition, where the taxpayer objects to the total amount pursuant to section 15, the taxpayer shall now pay 25% of the amount already assessed.
Taxpayers are encouraged to voluntary comply to all obligations timely including the tax laws and procedures in place to avoid any matters being referred to objection.