SARS is on a recruitment drive – here’s what they are looking for

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says it is actively hiring as it looks to target highly-skilled workers to help build a data-driven ‘smart tax authority’.

“Our mandate is to ensure optimal compliance with tax and customs legislation. We do this through fostering a culture of Voluntary Compliance and by making it easy for taxpayers and traders to comply with their legal obligations.

“In an era characterised by rapidly evolving technological innovation, SARS is preparing for a world where increasingly our work is informed by data-driven insights, machine learning, algorithms, artificial intelligence, and interconnectivity of people and devices.”

The revenue collector’s latest job listing can be found here. Some of the specific openings include:

• Specialists in data analytics;
• Specialists in SAP development and integration;
• Talent acquisition specialists;
• Senior Documentum specialist and developers
• Legal and policy coordinators;
• Consultants on tax rulings.

Tech push

SARS has been pushing to use computer algorithms, machine learning and other advanced technologies to ensure taxpayer compliance.

In its annual report published on 27 October, the revenue collector said it has ‘significantly expanded the scope of detection’, beyond data obtained through declarations, as well as the traditional third party data received which enabled the pre-filling of PIT returns, as well as auto assessments.

“Examples of such data sources include historical data on compliance behaviour as well as data regarding financial flows and assets held both locally and abroad,” it said.

SARS said it has also implemented several machine learning models that leverage multiple asset and income stream data sources to detect non-declaration and under-declaration.

The group said that its ‘Vision 2024’ is to build a ‘smart modern tax authority’, looking for specialised skills in the following fields:

• IT specialists, including developers, database administrators, security and software engineers, SAP specialists and integration designers;
• Data management specialists, including data analysts and data scientists;
• Audit and risk specialists;
• Investigation specialists, especially criminal investigators and forensic auditors;
• Research analysts;
• Social scientists;
• Project leaders;
• Legal specialists; and
• Regulatory and risk specialists.

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