| South African Institute of Tax Practitioners | |
|---|---|
| Type | Professional association |
| Official languages | English |
| CEO | Stiaan Klue |
| Website | http://www.thesait.org.za |
The South African Institute of Tax Practitioners (SAIT) is a professional association of tax practitioners. SAIT upholds professional standards, ethics and integrity, and promotes the tax industry and its members.[1]
When SAIT was formed, the institute announced that one member of the board should be nominated by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). That had not been agreed by SARS, although SARS said they agreed in principle with the general objectives of SAIT.[2] Other organizations representing tax professionals in the country are the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA).[3]
In March 2011 the CEO of the Institute, Stiaan Klue, joined with Nicolaas van Wyk of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in calling for simplification of South African tax laws, pointing out that many businesses remained in the informal sector due to the cost and difficulty of registration.[4] SAIT publishes TAXtalk every two months to 4,000 recipients. The magazine deals with tax issues for the South African market.[5]
SAIT members in good standing have reciprocal benefits of several other national taxation institutes, including the Canadian Tax Foundation, Chartered Institute of Taxation (UK), Taxation Institute of Australia, Irish Taxation Institute, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic and the Netherlands Institute of Tax Advisers.[6] SAIT is a member of the International Tax Directors Forum (ITDF).[1]
SAIT has been collaborating and exchanging information with the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria since 2007.[7] In June 2011 SAIT participated in a meeting in Lagos, Nigeria in which it was decided to establish the Association of African Tax Institutes (AATI). One of the vice-presidents would be from SAIT, and the AAIT was to be formally inaugurated in South Africa in October 2011 during SAIT's Annual Tax Conference.[8]