Niel has worked at SARS from 1977 until his retirement on 31 January 2023.  He acquired a National Diploma in Tax and Financial Accounting.  Starting his career, he worked in various SARS branch offices and ending his career upon his retirement he worked at SARS Head Office where he was instrumental in the implementation of the PAYE system in 1994 which was previous only manual records, the implementation of the electronic tax certificates in 1999, the implementation of SDL processes in 2000, the UIF processes in 2002 and the implementation of ETI in 2014.  Niel collaborate with external SARS stakeholders over the years and was tasked to manage these relationships.