SARS collects R38 billion more in revenue amid COVID-19

South African Revenue Service (SARS) says an improvement in tax compliance has helped to collect R38 billion more in tax revenue amid a difficult economic environment.

This is according

The results of the preliminary tax revenue, announced by SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswitter, on Thursday, show that SARS collected R1.2 trillion which was offset by refunds of R290.9 billion for the period ending March 2022.

“There’s an improvement of 26.8% on compliance cash collected and a reduced revenue leakage through refunds so in total to the compliance effort of SARS have resulted in an additional R158 billion in a year that we report.”

SARS briefing on preliminary outcomes of revenue collected:

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In February SARS said it is faced with a difficult task to re-prioritise its needs and rebuild its ability to improve its revenue collection.

The coronavirus pandemic, the associated lockdowns and the global slowdown severely affected SARS revenue collection.

In his budget statement in March Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said South Africa would have the largest tax shortfall on record, this year.

Budget 2021 delivered by Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni:
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He said SARS expected to collect R1.21 trillion in taxes during 2020-2021, about R213 billion less than the 2020 budget expectations.

Kieswetter says they have to address serious challenges if they are to reverse their low revenue collection.