Erstwhile world champion Cassius ‘The Hitman’ Baloyi is nursing a massive headache after the South African Revenue Services (SARS) hit him with a huge tax bill saying that he owes the taxman almost R800 000.
The 50-year-old Baloyi, who won multiple world titles when he was still an active boxer, is faced with a massive tax bill amounting to R737 536,18. Compounding matters is the fact that Baloyi, a two-time International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-lightweight champion, doesn’t have the kind of money demanded by the taxman.
“My problem is with SARS, I’m owing a lot of money which I don’t know. There was a time when BSA was run by Krish Naidoo, he came with a rule that they were going to pay tax for us. Before that rule, I was paying taxes and I was up-to-date,” the former world champion said.
“When Krish left BSA, Loyiso Mtya came. Later on, after I retired, I tried to submit my tax returns at SARS and they said I was owing money. I knew nothing about that. What I know is that they were taking taxes from my purse to pay the tax.”
Baloyi, who retired in 2012 after chalking up 37 victories, eight losses and a draw, added: “The money I’m owing keeps going up every time. Now I’m owing almost R1 million. I owed tax before and I paid more than half a million. When I left boxing I was owing R400 000, now it’s more than R700 000. I don’t know what to do, I just need help. I don’t know who can help me or how I can get help? I’m afraid I may later have lots of problems.”
Krish Naidoo, a former acting BSA chief executive officer and general manager between 2004 and 2007, said: “That rule was only meant for foreign boxers who are based in South Africa. Never at any stage did we deduct money from the purses of South African boxers for tax purposes.”
Contacted for comment, former BSA chief operations officer Loyiso Mtya said: “I know nothing about Krish’s deal. What I can say is that there was a mess regarding boxers’ taxes when I arrived. We went to SARS, held a meeting and it was then decided that boxers must look after their own tax affairs. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
