In a statement last week, SARS said that it had created a shortlist of 3 bidders, but after a "thorough evaluation process" over many months, had identified Accenture as the preferred bidder because of the company's "knowledge and expertise within the Tax and Customs environment".

In December 2005, SARS published a tender for the modernisation of the Tax and Customs business, product and systems environment. The objective of the tender was to identify a partner capable of implementing a programme of considerable size and complexity.

Successful bidders were required to have an appropriate technology solution and a track record of similar large scale implementations.

The tender caters for the implementation of modernisation measures to unfold in four phases stretching over a number of years, subject to affordability. Through this mechanism, both SARS and the successful bidder will have the opportunity to review the work completed at the end of each phase, reconfirm costs and delivery timelines, and decide on whether to proceed to the next phase. Both parties will have the option to exit the programme at the end of each phase of the project.