Death and Taxes

Nothing in life is certain, except death and taxes - or so the expression goes. And over the past two decades South African criminals and tax dodgers have come to realise this truth the hard way. Tax sleuth Johann van Loggerenberg was at the centre of many of SARS' high-profile cases during his time there. As far as SARS is concerned all forms of income are subjected to tax, even if by ill-gotten means. Whether you are a drug dealer from Durban, one of the hitmen who shot Brett Kebble or soccer boss Irvin Khoza, you have to pay your dues! Van Loggerenberg relates the riveting inside stories of the investigations into businessmen like Dave King, Billy Rautenbach, Barry Tannenbaum and his ponzi scheme, and others. Over the years he got to know all the scams and dirty tricks in the book and he explains these in plain language. In these investigations the tax authority worked closely with the police, the NPA and the Directorate of Special Operations. However, after a few years SARS became the victim of its own success. In telling the stories of how tax evaders were caught, Van Loggerenberg also shows how the power struggle between different state departments and the phenomenon of state capture in recent years started crippling SARS.

JOHANN VAN LOGGERENBERG is the co-author of the bestseller Rogue: The Inside Story of SARS's Elite Crime-busting Unit (2016). He joined SARS in 1998 and ultimately resigned as Group Executive: Tax and Customs Enforcement Investigations in 2015. Since then he has been consulting for local law, auditing and forensic firms and international anti-organised crime organisations. He has been an active participant in analysing the much-publicised 'Gupta leaks' emails for a variety of clients. He is currently studying taxation, tax administration and commercial crimes at various local and international academic institutions.