Edward Kieswetter, the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (Sars), told Parliament Sars had collected more than R1.55 trillion at gross, which comprised of a net of R1.25trl of the revenue estimate and R38 billion more than the revised estimate.
Refunds paid amounted to R300.6bn, R20 bn more than 2019/2020.
“Our specific compliance interventions to detect and deter non-compliance yielded R172 billion, which shows room to improve compliance levels across all tax types,” he said.
Kieswetter admitted tax compliance levels were under strain, with a composite compliance level of 62.61 percent, compared to the previous year of 65.05 percent. However, the tax base was broadening with 1.6 million taxpayers added to the Sars tax register that resulted in R4.6bn added to the net collections for the year under review.
The newly launched High Wealth Individual Segment had written 1 400 direct letters to wealthy individuals and 275 had already been reviewed. Equally, Sars has also detected 26 000 unregistered taxpayers who had financial assets with economic activity in excess of R1 million.
philippa.larkin@inl.co.za
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE