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Dave King must pay R706m or face prison

Pretoria – Dave King settled on a payment of R706.7m to the South African Revenue Service (Sars).

Sars confirmed on Thursday that a settlement agreement was reached between King and the State.

This settlement was achieved following submissions made to Sars by King and entities associated with him.

“My experience should serve as an example to taxpayers, who find themselves in a similar position with Sars," said King.

"Rather seek early resolution and cooperate with Sars when asked by them to explain your tax affairs. I am delighted to finally put this behind me and to be able to actively resume my business career.”

The Scottish-born was in the news again in June when he claimed R33m from Gary Player, for what King says was a loan of R6.1m made to the golf icon in July 1999 plus interest on the loan. This matter still has to be resolved.

The governance and oversight committee of Sars found that the submissions that were made met the requirements of the applicable tax legislation.

HSBC, which acts as trustee on behalf of King and the associated entities, as well as King in his personal capacity and members of his family, were all signatories to the settlement agreement.

King has conceded his tax debt and has agreed to a payment of R706.7m to Sars in respect of his personal income tax and the tax liability of Ben Nevis, a King trust company managed out of Guernsey.

The fraud charges against King were not pursued by the State and King accepted liability in respect of 41 lesser counts of contravening Section 75 of the Income Tax Act.

This includes the failure to disclose information and the failure to provide correct information about incomes earned over a number of years.

King appeared before the Palmridge Regional Court on Thursday and entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the NPA.

King has to pay a fine totalling R3.208m (R80 000 per count) or 24 months imprisonment.

In addition, he was ordered to pay an amount of R8.75m towards the Criminal Asset Recovery Fund.

“When this tax dispute arose many years ago I took a conscious decision not to cooperate with the authorities," said King.

"That was a mistake. I regret not engaging with the State sooner as I have found them to be extremely firm, but fair in their dealings with me once I fully engaged with them."

He accepted the fact that he has been non-compliant in the past and said he will rectify it.

Sars said it welcomes the finalisation of the matter and the settlement.

"The outcome demonstrates that Sars remains approachable to any taxpayer, who wants to resolve a tax dispute in a bona fide manner, even when formal processes of litigation are before the courts," said Gene Ravele, chief officer for tax and customs enforcement investigations at Sars.

- Fin24

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