The Constitutional Court has found that tax records can be disclosed if they reveal evidence of breaking the law, risk to public safety or environmental risk, or if the public interest outweighs the harm to the taxpayer.

The Constitutional Court has opened the door for journalists, anti-corruption NGOs, individuals and even political parties to request to see the tax returns of others if they are able to prove that their release would be in the public interest. The ruling has done away with a decadeslong outright ban on the release of tax records to third parties.

The ban resulted in a request by the Financial Mail and amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism to see former president Jacob Zuma's tax records being denied by the SA Revenue Service (SARS). The organisations approached the high court and later the Constitutional Court to have sections 35 and 36 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) and sections 67 and 69 of the Tax Administration Act declared invalid for banning any third party from accessing tax records, even in the public interest.

In making its ruling, the Constitutional Court ordered SARS to re-adjudicate its initial decision on Zuma's tax records.

SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter said: "We respect the findings of the Court, and are applying our mind to exact implications for SARS and taxpayers. I wish to assure all taxpayers that any request made under Paia for the tax...