The Seychelles Revenue Commission’s (SRC) Audit team has and continues to strengthen its examination efforts as part of its mandate to ascertain compliance to tax laws.
To determine whether taxes are being correctly reported and paid to the organization, SRC has between April and June 2023 conducted a total of 129 audits comprising of 103 desk audits, 19 issue oriented audits, 5 comprehensive audits including 2 default cases.
99 cases amongst the 129 audits conducted and finalized resulted in adjustments thus showing that 77% of the total taxpayers audited were not compliant towards their accurate reporting obligation. The main issues identified included inaccurate reporting of income, non-payment of tax on rental, underpayment of income tax on emoluments; plus, failure to remit taxes due to misinterpretation of the law.
Examination and inspection of the audited accounts covered business tax, corporate social responsibility tax, income and non-monetary benefit tax, tourism marketing tax, value added tax, tourism marketing tax, withholding tax as well as tax imposed on residential and commercial rent.
To note, even if the Corporate Social Responsibility Tax (CSR) Act 2013 which came into effect on 1 January, 2014 was repealed on 20 April, 2021, any CSR tax payment falling due prior to 20 April, 2021 is still being collected by the Commission.
Looking back at its performance over the past six months between January and June 2023, of which a total of 306 audit cases were successfully completed, SRC will continue to strongly maintain its stance in ensuring adherence to tax laws and obligations when it comes to the accuracy of the information being declared by taxpayers to the organization.
Following the introduction of the self-assessment regime in 2010 set to encourage voluntary compliance, the onus is on the taxpayer to determine if it has Seychelles sourced income in a tax year, to declare and report on their taxable income, for the relevant tax period with permitted deductions and exemptions, in line with applicable laws.
Taxpayers are thus being advised to follow all the necessary procedures and remit their taxes in a timely manner to avoid being penalized for non-compliance. Adopting the best practice, taxpayers are also being encouraged to keep their records and all other relevant data for a period of 7 years as required by the law.
In case of any doubts about the laws in place and its application, taxpayers are invited to meet with a Provision of Advice Officer for assistance located on the 3rd floor of Maison Colet or email advisory.center@src.gov.sc