Sars targets R1tr in collections
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) intends collecting nearly R1-trillion during the 2014/15 tax season, which began on Tuesday.
Tax revenue was expected to grow by 10.4% to R993.6-billion, with R899.8-billion collected last year, after refunds, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene told reporters in Pretoria.
Nene said Sars's ability to collect revenue had been one of the cornerstones of South Africa's 20-year-old democracy as it affected government's ability to deliver public services.
While revenues were expected to increase, the economy was underperforming.
"The South African economy is continuing to grow at a moderate pace but continues to underperform," the minister said.
"When the economy slows down, we do experience a slowdown in revenue."
The five-month strike in the platinum sector that ended last week played a significant role in the moderation of economic growth, with output in the sector declining 24.7% in the first quarter.
"The 0.6% contraction [in growth in the first quarter] was mainly as a result of the mining sector challenges we have been experiencing... It has quite a ripple effect in the economy," Nene said.
"It indeed had a significant impact on the economy and it is going to take time for the economy to reach its pre-strike performance."
Personal income tax accounted for 35% of tax collected, followed by value added tax (VAT) at 26%, and corporate income tax at 22%.
Acting Sars commissioner Ivan Pillay said they were paying extra attention to certain parts of the tax filing process this year.
"The particular focus will be on medical aid claims, retirement fund contributions, income protection policy contributions, and taxpayers who submit revised returns for previous years," he said.
"We are doing this deliberately. We are telling you up front. We don't want to catch you out. We're saying don't go there."
Nene said tax compliance was important.
"The issue of tax compliance is quite critical, so closing all these gaps would go a long way in addressing part of the tax gap.
"Sars also has a legal duty to protect the tax system, and taxpayers themselves, against revenue leakage and any form of fraud."
Pillay said of the 38 000 tax practitioners, around 11 500 were properly accredited with Sars and their respective boards.
"So all of those who are not accredited may help taxpayers prepare, but they may not file for taxpayers," he said.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation