The taxman has shown Moja Love’s Boss Lady reality TV show star Thato Mokhothu who’s the boss when it slapped her with a tax bill of more than R1-million.
Sunday World can exclusively reveal that Mokhothu has been locked in a behind-the-scenes dispute with the South African Revenue Service (Sars) over her failure to pay her personal income tax.
Mokhothu’s squabble with Sars came to the fore after the latter applied for judgment against her in the Johannesburg High Court about a fortnight ago.
In the application, which we have seen, Sars stated that Mokhothu, who is the managing director of RTT Construction & Consulting Engineering, initially owed it more than R850, 000, but the amount increased to more than R1.1-million after the debt incurred about R285, 000 in interest.
Before applying for the default judgment against Mokhothu, whose company reportedly raked in more than R100-million worth of tenders, Sars wrote her a final letter of demand on March 3, advising her to pay the debt or enter into a payment plan with the receiver of revenue to settle it.
At that time, the debt was just over R20, 000 less than what the taxman is demanding in the application for judgment.
“Dear taxpayer, your account for tax reference no ….. is R1 120 105.82 in arrears. A final demand has been issued. Kindly ignore this message if full payment has been made,” reads the letter. Despite Sars’ plea for payment, Mokhothu appears to have ignored the letter.
Meanwhile, Thabo Mphelo Films, which produces, among other shows, SABC 1 show Daily Thetha, has been hit with a tax bill of more than R5-million.
According to the Sars’ application for a judgment submitted in the Johanneburg High Court, the production house initially owed it about R4.4-million in unpaid company income tax. The debt skyrocketed to just under R6-million after incurring more than R1.4-million in interest. Before applying for the judgment, Sars wrote a final letter of demand to Mphelo’s entity on June 26, asking for the payment.
The taxman threatened to auction the entity’s assets if it failed to do so.
“According to the records of the South African Revenue Service, you have failed to pay your tax debt for one or more tax years and tax periods… you are requested to make full payment within 10 days from the date of this letter of demand.”
In the letter, Sars advised the entity to apply within 10 business days from the date of issuance to arrange to pay the debt in instalments if Mphelo was unable to pay the full amount.
The entity was also advised to apply for suspension of the debt if he intended to submit or had submitted a formal dispute or compromise of a portion of the tax, where this would provide a higher return to the fund than liquidation, sequestration or other collection measures.
Sars informed the entity that if he did not comply with its demands, it would go to court to seek an order to attach and auction off his assets.
“Failure to make full payment or use the above remedies may result in the following actions and possibly others: Sars may appoint any third party who presently or in the future will owe you money or hold money for you to settle your tax debt with this money.
“A civil judgment is being entered against you, in which case a warrant of execution may be issued for the sheriff of the court to attach and sell your assets.
“If you are a natural person, you may apply for a reduction of the amount to be paid to Sars based on your and your dependants’ basic living expenses… If you are a non-natural person, you may apply for a reduction of the amount to be paid to Sars based on serious financial hardship,” the papers read.
