The taxman is pursuing house music legend DJ Ganyani in an attempt to recover millions of rands in unpaid tax from him and his record label.
Sunday World can reveal that after hitting Ganyani with a personal tax bill of more than R4-million early this year, the taxman returned last week to demand R1-million from his record label, Ganyani Entertainment.
Ganyani’s tax woes came to the fore when Sars dragged his label to Johannesburg High Court to obtain a judgment against his label after it repeatedly failed to settle the debt.
According to the papers that Sunday World has seen, Ganyani Entertainment owed Sars more than R500 000 in unpaid company income tax.
But the debt ballooned to more than R800 000 after Sars imposed over R300 000 in penalties. The label also owed Sars more than R76 000 in unpaid pay as you earn and R22 000 in additional tax. But the debts increased to more than R183 000 after Sars added in excess of R16 000 plus more than R68 000 in penalties and interests.
According to the papers, Ganyani’s stable owed the receiver of revenue more than R13 000 in unpaid unemployment insurance fund money and over R2 000 in additional tax. However, after accruing more than R11 000 in penalties and interests, the debt spiked to over R28 000.
The talented producer’s entity also owed Sars more than R6 000 in skills development levy and additional tax. The debt more than doubled to more than R12 000 after penalties and interest were imposed.
It appears that Sars sought judgment against Ganyani Entertainment after it failed to enter into a payment plan to settle the debt. This was because the receiver of revenue wrote a letter to the label and advised it to make arrangements to settle the debt and threatened to auction the company’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,” read the papers.
In the letter, Sars advised Ganyani’s stable to apply within 10 business days from the date of issuance of the letter, to arrange to pay the debt in instalments if it was unable to pay the full amount.
Ganyani Entertainment was also advised to apply for suspension of the debt if it intended to submit or has submitted a formal dispute or compromise of a portion of the tax, where this will provide a higher return to the fiscus than liquidation, sequestration or other collection measures.
Sars informed Ganyani Entertainment that it would go to court to seek an order to attach and auction off its assets if it did not comply with its demands.
“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.
The company bill comes about five months after Sars reportedly slapped Ganyani with more than R4-million in unpaid personal income tax. According to City Press, Sars threatened to auction off Ganyani’s assets if he did not settle the debt. Ganyani said he was not aware of the matter because his account assured him that he had submitted all the required records to the taxman.
