By Hannes de Wet
Soccer boss Irvin Khoza on Friday settled his personal tax dispute with the SA Revenue Service, agreeing to pay an outstanding amount of about R7,2-million.
SARS commissioner Pravin Gordhan said Khoza had accepted personal tax liability totalling about R10,3-million.
He had already paid an amount of about R3,1 -million.
Gordhan said the R7,2-million included interest and penalties.
"This outstanding amount and its payment form the basis of the agreement signed today," he said.
Khoza, who also attended the briefing, said: "There was no intent on my side not to pay tax."
He said the actual amount of tax he owed came to about R3-million. The rest of the money was made up of penalties flowing from an income tax assessment for the period 1984 to 2000.
Gordhan said the settlement related only to Khoza's personal tax liability and had nothing to do with other entities he had been involved with.
These included the Orlando Pirates football club, the Players' Management Company, and the 2006 World Cup Bid Company.
A decision on Khoza's criminal prosecution for alleged tax evasion was in the hands of the police and the national prosecuting authority, said Gordhan.
The criminal case was an issue separate from the matter of his personal tax liability and his agreement with SARS.
"We are comfortable that his personal liability has been established," said the commissioner.
Khoza appeared in the Johannesburg magistrates' court on Thursday. He has been under investigation for tax evasion since August last year.
He was charged with making a false declaration of income tax and false declaration of income received between 1995 and 1999. - Sapa