Sanlam - Non responsive

Good day Sanlam,

Since the posting of the query I recently (07 May 2024) received an email indicating that the matter has been referred to the group tax department but I am still concerned because I had already received similar communication via email on the 08th of February 2024 indicating that the matter has been sent through to a tax specialist for investigation.

There is a great discomfort around the turnaround time it’s been more than three months since the matter was initially referred to a tax specialist. It would be greatly appreciated for the matter to be resolved soonest as I am incurring charges and also delayed in carrying out other processes that require my tax matters to be in order.

Good day,

To date the matter is still not resolved. I tried to submit my 2020 tax return and it was rejected indicating that there is no lumpsum declared on the return. I was advised to urgently contact Fund Administrator (Sanlam) to correct the error and submit the correct tax return.

Good day,

The response I received via email is as follows:

“Kindly note that we have followed up regarding IRP5 matter , please note that this is a lengthy process, we will update you once the Fund administrator gives us an update.“

This unfortunately does provide any comfort that the matter is going to be resolved any time soon. I honestly do not understand why the process is lengthy.

I am not sure as to why the initial review is indicating a happy customer as I am still an unhappy customer. The message received from SARS indicated that the tax return was not processed because SARS issued a Tax Directive, but there is no Lump Sum amount declared on the return. I am still waiting for Sanlam to correct the error and submit the corrected tax return. Sanlam as a fund Administrator is entrusted with people's funds and are expected to submit correct information to SARS. I have been receiving emails for over five months now with no assistance and looking forward to Sanlam applying one of their values being integrity to urgently resolve this matter, as submission of false information raises ethical concerns.

Ethics then implies that one is ethical when one does not only consider what is good for oneself, but also consider whether what is ‘good’ for the ‘self’ is also good for ‘others’. Based on the responses received from Sanlam they are distancing themselves from any costs/penalties/interests I might incur while the matter remains unresolved, furthermore there was no explanation provided to me as their client to get an understanding of why the tax directive contains the error and also by when will the matter be resolved. Indicating that such matters take time is not enough and I am failing to understand why the matter would take long since the information relating to the fund should be readily available to Sanlam as the fund administrator.