- Demands statements that led to his agonising bill
- Says state has been deducting from his salary every month
- Settlement of bill could bring more trouble to Kgosi
TEFO PHEAGE
Troubled former head of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Service (DISS) Isaac Kgosi has vowed to fight the “exorbitant” P10 million bill from Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) that his wife received on his behalf last week.
Kgosi’s lawyers, Thabiso Tafila Attorneys, have confirmed to this publication that they have received instructions from Kgosi to object to the bill. “It is true that we have received the exorbitant bill and we have been instructed by Kgosi to object to the bill,” said Thabiso Tafila. “We will file our objection as per the requirements of the law and demand statements that led to the bill.”
Kgosi, who is currently in Malaysia purportedly for treatment of spine complications, was slapped with a P10 million tax bill that was handed to his wife, Gloria, on Wednesday last week. Should the court uphold BURS’s position, or the Commissioner of Taxes do so on appeal to his office as arbiter, Kgosi’s property will be sold to settle the debt.
But Kgosi’s settling of the bill of his own accord could spell more trouble for the embattled former director of the DISS that is hounding him alongside other law enforcement agencies for stacks of money that are allegedly stashed away. The bill follows numerous searches at Kgosi ‘s places of residence.
According to the tax law, the Commissioner General may consider an objection if a tax return for the tax year to which the assessment relates has been furnished and the tax due on the taxable income declared has been paid. Where the assessment is an additional or is a reduced assessment which partly imposes a fresh liability, the person assessed has no further right of objection.
A person dissatisfied with a decision under Section 30 (5) of the VAT Act may, within 30 days after receiving a notice of the decision, lodge with the Commissioner General a notice of appeal to the High Court or the Board of Adjudicators. The law further says any person dissatisfied with the Commissioner General’s decision may, by notice in writing, appeal to the High Court or to the Board of Adjudicators within 60 days after receiving a notice of the decision.
The notice of appeal shall be in writing, state whether the appeal is to the High Court or the Board of Adjudicators, must be restricted to the grounds in the objection given to the Commissioner General and must contain an address for service of notice of the date and place of hearing.
The Commissioner General or the person affected may appeal to the High Court from any decision of the Board of Adjudicators which involves a question of law, including a question of mixed fact and law. The Commissioner General or the person affected may also appeal to the Court of Appeal as of right from any decision of the High Court which involves a question of law, including a question of mixed fact and law
The Commissioner General may either allow the objection in whole or in part or disallow the objection, and he shall serve the person affected with a notice in writing of the decision on the objection. If the Commissioner General’s decision is a reduced assessment, he shall issue a notice of reduced assessment to the person affected together with the notice of his decision.