Cape Town - The protracted case in which the SA Revenue Service (Sars) seeks to recover R388 million from controversial businessman Mark Lifman took another turn in the high court on Tuesday when a third party sought to intervene in the case.
Both the lawyers for Lifman and Sars refused to divulge the identity of the third party or release copies of the court papers.
Sars has been seeking, since 2015, to recover outstanding tax money, asking the court to liquidate his various businesses to recoup the money, but Lifman insists the businesses are viable and must only be placed under business rescue.
The amount is confirmed in an affidavit from senior Sars manager Keith Hendrickse and papers presented to its attorneys, MacRoberts Incorporated.
In papers, Sars maintains that the commencement of business rescue proceedings is yet another strategy in an ongoing effort by Lifman to evade settling the Lifman Group’s tax debts. His woes started when the court granted Sars an order to commence an inquiry into non-compliance for years of assessment.