SAICA appoints Tax Director, Muneer Hassan
The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) has announced the appointment of its new project director for tax.
Muneer Hassan, a tax and auditing specialist, took the helm as SAICA’s tax director on November 1, 2007. He will advise SAICA members on tax issues affecting the accountancy profession and keep them informed on the latest tax developments.
Prior to joining SAICA, Hassan was audit manager and tax technical advisor at the South African Revenue Services (SARS). He was responsible for developing tax integration systems as well as auditing programs, internal policies and controls. Hassan held several other positions at SARS before becoming a tax technical advisor.
Highlighting his plans as SAICA’s new tax director, Hassan says: “I hope to cement SAICA’s relationship with SARS and assess how we [SAICA] can influence certain aspects of South African tax laws to ensure that we are on par with international standards.”
He says that the mini budget, presented by the Minister of Finance last month, indicates that the South African economy is booming but warns that the economy is also in a cautionary state. “If the economy turns unfavourably, then certain aspects of economic policies and corporate laws will be seriously affected.”
The minister alluded to the improvement of tax administration and compliance as well as a broadening tax base. “This indicates that we will probably see a lower tax burden in the future, through tax cuts,” he says.
Commenting on the appointment of Hassan; Nazeer Wadee, SAICA’s Chief Operating Officer says; “We have no doubt that a tax specialist such as Muneer will add tremendous value to our members and strengthen SAICA’s relationship with the collector of revenues.”
Wadee emphasises that the constantly changing nature of South Africa’s tax legislation creates a need for Chartered Accountants [CAs(SA)], many of whom are tax practitioners, to have access to specialised and professional tax advice such as that offered by SAICA to its members.
Earlier this year, SAICA successfully lobbied on behalf of its members to SARS to extend the Small Business Tax Amnesty deadline.
Hassan is a qualified CA(SA) and also holds certificates in Capital Gains Tax as well as Advanced Taxation. He is currently completing a Master of Accounting Science degree in Taxation (MCompt) through the University of South Africa (UNISA).
He completed his training contract at PwC in 1998 where he moved through the ranks and was appointed senior accountant.
Whilst at SARS, he had a short stint as audit manager at accounting and auditing firm, Nkonki Inc before rejoining SARS.