SA tax man eyes desktop Linux

South African tax authorities are eyeing Linux for their desktop and tax collecting needs. It may be said that there is still a lack of apps to make this switch viable. And yet, it seems that people are making it work each and every day.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) issued a tender (RFT 37/2005) for a proof of concept Linux desktop solution for the tax-collecting government department on 17 February. While SARS admits that the challenge of moving to Linux on the desktop is great, a successful proof of concept could see 14 000 desktops running Microsoft Windows XP SP2 migrated to Linux.

Currently SARS runs over 700 approved applications, of which there are seven “core tax” applications. Any tenderer will have to find a way to successfully port bespoke Windows applications in a cost-effective manner. Other hurdles include “usability, end user acceptance and resistance to change”, “the cost and challenge of end user training and support”, and “a frequently encountered dependency on Microsoft Active Directory”. [Read the rest]

[tags]south african taxman,sars,south african revenue service,microsoft active directory[/tags]