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The Emerging Need for E-Commerce Accepted Practice (ECAP) 57
the transaction takes place over a telecommunications network or in person. For
example, if a storeowner and a customer agree to enter an incorrect price on a cash
register, records will show no signs of falsification. However, in every other case
listed above, an inconsistency can potentially be observed. A system for electronic
transactions should be as auditable as transactions in the physical world. Thus, in
an auditable system, every other case should be detected, and it should be possible
to identify the guilty parties. This should be possible even if the parties in a
transaction and operators of the system itself cooperate to falsify records.
(Peha, 1999)
SOUTH AFRICAN REVENUE SERVICES (SARS)
In an effort to streamline the tax collection process, the SARS has introduced
e-filing.
E-filing will be facilitated through service providers, external companies with
the necessary infrastructure to provide electronic submission services. Taxpayers
who wish to file and pay electronically will register with the Service Provider of their
choice, conclude an agreement and receive a private access code and password
to access the available services. The private access code and password will only
be issued once the service provider has authenticated the taxpayer. The service
provider will forward the necessary details of the taxpayer to SARS in order for the
taxpayer to be activated as an e-filer on the SARS systems. When returns are to
be issued, SARS will issue the electronic returns to the Service Provider with whom
the taxpayer is registered. The Service Provider will in turn issue a reminder to the
taxpayer, either by SMS or e-mail, informing him/her of the returns that have been
received from SARS. The taxpayer will utilize his private access code and
password to access the return. The Web-based application will automatically
display the return information as received from SARS. The taxpayer will then
complete the return on the Web. When the taxpayer electronically completes the
return, the details entered onto the return are validated thoroughly and all
calculations are performed by the system in order to eliminate any potential
of transmitting incorrect information. The taxpayer also has the option to make
a payment when submitting a return and can make the payment any time before the
due date (SARS, 2002).
This three-way communication (between taxpayer, service provider and
SARS) could be fraught with all types of technical and non-technical problems. For
example, who is responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the data? Who is
responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the data warehouse, and how would
you data mine seemingly different sets of data?
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