South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner Tom Moyane has committed that no effort will be spared to achieve the revenue targets projected for 2017/2018 financial year.
“South Africa depends on the 14 000 SARS officials who have consistently delivered on very tough revenue estimates every year. We have put in place the necessary regional revenue management structures to track taxpayer compliance down to granular level and the results are proving to be positive,” said Commissioner Moyane.
The Commissioner’s commitment follows Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s announcement during his Budget Speech on Wednesday that government has upped the ante on the anticipated revenue that has to be collected.
The revenue collection authority will have to collect a total of R1 214.7 billion to R1 217.3 billion for the State’s coffers by the end of March.
“This is a marginal increase of R2.6 billion and stems from improved company and trade taxes collected since the last quarter of 2017,” said the Commissioner.
Commissioner Moyane said the revenue authority was committed to maximising revenue collection for government’s development agenda, despite the lacklustre economy.
“SA’s sovereign debt levels have increased to 53.3% of GDP. The cost of servicing this large debt of R163.2 billion, one of the fastest growing line items on the government expenditure framework, is stripping away revenue from much needed social imperatives faced by our nation,” said Commissioner Moyane.
He said the fiscal stability of the country was ultimately dependent on the ability of SARS to collect all revenue due to the fiscus.
“We are working much smarter with greater intensity to close any revenue gaps and leakages,” said Moyane. – SAnews.gov.za
