SARS IS BEYOND AWFUL
SARS IS BEYOND AWFUL: I am horrified by the way we are treated when we go to visit SARS. Not even the basics in human empathy seem to exist in the employees at SARS. All the people queuing for hours to get into the building are trying to do the right thing... To pay their taxes... And for that they are punished and treated like trash. And the employees at SARS have no problem with sending them home over and over again to fetch documents that they were never asked for in the first place. If I think I've got it rough, it's nothing like what the others go through. I can drive myself back there (over and over again) in my own car. Many of those in the queue have had to catch a number of taxis and busses to get there, only to be told at the door that "today we are closing at 10:30" (all times are random) and "come back another day", which means another day lost income. 
I recently went in to try and get onto SARS efiling (so that I wouldn't have to face the horrors of going to SARS every six months to submit my provisional tax), a traumatic experience every time. When I arrived, with all my paperwork ready, they said it was too late (10:30am) and that no one would be allowed in without an appointment. I had never heard of that before. I sat on the cement outside SARS and phoned for an appointment. It took 20 minutes of my air time, to get through to book an appointment. I looked at all the really struggling people in the queue and wondered how many of them could afford to pay for 20 minutes air time. I found it hard enough to swallow. I could only get an appointment for the end of the week, which meant a second day of income lost. When I went back at the end of the week, there was almost a riot happening because of the ridiculous queueing system. Not even the queue is organized. I truly felt for those who had been standing since early in the morning. I have no idea how I got in for my appointment... It seemed like pure luck... a miracle! There was no order at all. Inside, we were treated like cattle by people who enjoyed the sense of power. When I eventually got to speak to someone in a booth I was horrified by the contempt he showed towards me, for absolutely no reason. I was polite and friendly, but he treated me like a criminal. He was rude and would not answer any of my questions. If I asked him to explain something to me, he would laugh at me with scorn. When he asked why my income was less now than last year, and I told him it was because I had had a rough time financially during lock down, again he laughed at me. He made it seem utterly impossible that I would ever be able to get onto efiling, even though I had all the paper work that SARS required. Only once I was reduced to tears, did an over seer come and help explain things to me, with the man I'd been dealing with glaring at me over his shoulder. He had turned me down for internet banking and was not happy that the overseer had interfered and agreed that I had the correct paperwork. When we were alone again, he gained great pleasure from telling me I had just been audited. I stared at him in disbelief. I have been audited multiple times and I have a tiny business with a low income. It makes no sense. I rushed across the road to go and photocopy my finance books that were all there with me, and rushed back to SARS just before closing time so that they could scan in all my supporting documents (on their one and only scanner... Which was giving problems). If I hadn't begged them to let me back in after the photocopying, I would have had to go back on another day (losing a third day of income). At the copy shop was stressed trying to get the copies done in time. The lady at the shop said: "oh, you've come from SARS. I feel for you. Every single day we have people in here in tears after being at SARS"... And this is the way we are treated for trying to do the right thing!!! 