Letter to SARS regarding failed tax application

Sent to contact.south@sars.gov.za on 2 September 2010. Presently awaiting a response.

Dear SARS

I submitted my tax registration application for a closed corporation at the SARS Cape Town branch what must be close on 2 months ago, if not longer. After queuing for about an hour, I finally got to the front desk, where a middle-aged rather curt woman with perm-style hair accepted my printed application for turnover tax and put it in a box.

I asked her whether I could have a copy of the document or some reference or receipt, failing that. My request was firmly declined, and I was informed that “this is how it works”.

It’s now been two months or so later, and upon phoning your call center today, I was (predictably) told that there is no evidence or trace of my registration.

Now I’d like to do the right thing and declare my additional income, but I am getting messed around.

Now I cannot phone said department – I tried, but was refused – so now I have to go back down there and queue yet again.

I am not going to.

I want someone to get back to me, follow up on my application, find it in that box and finish this registration procedure.

And I want it done promptly.

I look forward to hearing from you in this regard, and you can look forward to me escallating this pathetic service on every platform I can find and being really unreasonable about it should I not, as you make doing the right thing near impossible.

I will also set fire to the building and abduct your staff’s pets and set them on fire too.*

Kind regards

(*OK OK, I didn’t really say the latter.)

The bottom line? Get a fucking receipt.