According to preliminary findings of a report released online, Tax Ombud Yanga Mputa revealed that the highest rate of hijacking is among registered tax practitioners.

Mputa said, “Tax practitioners accounted for 48% of e-Filing profile hijacking, followed by individual taxpayers at 32 percent. Tax practitioners representing individuals made up 13 percent, while corporate taxpayers were the least affected at just 5 percent.”

She explained the vulnerability of tax practitioners, stating, “Because tax practitioners represent multiple taxpayer accounts, which require them to log into various taxpayer profiles, this frequent switching in and out of multiple profile accounts elevates the risk of e-Filing profile hijacking, making them easy targets. Another factor is the target value – whereby if one tax practitioner is compromised, it gives profile hijackers access to multiple taxpayers.”

The Office of the Tax Ombud is expected to release the full report in the coming weeks.

--ChannelAfrica--