Joint Media Statement - Settlement between the State and Mr DC King
PRETORIA, 29 August 2013 - The South African Revenue Service (SARS) confirms that a settlement agreement was reached between Mr Dave King and the State.
This settlement was achieved following submissions made to SARS by Mr King and entities associated with him. The governance and oversight committee in SARS found that the submissions that were made met the requirements of the applicable tax legislation. HSBC, which acts as trustee on behalf of Mr King and the associated entities, as well as Mr King in his personal capacity and members of his family, were all signatories to the settlement agreement. Other relevant state institutions were also parties to the overall settlement.
Mr King has conceded his tax debt and has agreed to a payment of R 706. 7 million 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 Mr King were not pursued by the State and Mr King accepted liability in respect of 41 lesser counts of contravening Section 75 of the Income Tax Act, including the failure to disclose information and the failure to provide correct information about incomes earned over a number of years.
Today Mr King appeared before the Palmridge Regional Court and entered into a plea and sentencing agreement to this effect with the NPA. Mr King has to pay a fine totalling R 3.208 million (R 80 000 per count) or 24 months imprisonment. In addition, he was ordered to pay an amount of R 8.75 million towards the Criminal Asset Recovery Asset Fund via the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
In response to the settlement agreement, Mr King stated: "When this tax dispute arose many years ago I took a conscious decision not to cooperate with the authorities. 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. I accept the fact that I have been non-compliant in the past and will rectify this."