Fin24 reports that the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) warned on Tuesday that illicit traders were a direct threat to thousands of jobs in several industries, including the tobacco industry.
The union issued a statement relating to the latest illicit tracking study by market research firm Ipsos, which was released last week. It revealed that the SA Revenue Service (SARS) would lose over R7bn this year as a result of illicit tobacco trade and also showed that illicit traders could have made more than R15bn over the past three years. Fawu’s Katishi Masemola called on government to put pressure on SARS to take a tougher stance on illicit traders who manufactured and sold cheap, unregulated products as they did not pay excise duties or VAT. He added: “Every South African can feel the pinch of the recently increased VAT – so it is unacceptable for illicit traders to evade what citizens pay for on a daily basis – right under the nose of SARS.” Last week SARS Commissioner Mark Kingon said they were looking into reestablishing teams to focus on illicit trade in sectors such as tobacco, alcohol and fuel.
- Read this report by Lameez Omarjee in full at Fin24
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