Cape Town – The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has collected a record gross amount of R2.067 trillion in tax revenue for the 2022/2023 financial year.
The tax collector said net collection after payment of R381.1 billion in refunds was R1.686 trillion.
“This is the first time since it was formed that Sars collected more than R2.068 trillion The amount paid in refunds is also the largest ever paid since its formation, the revenue service said.
“The 2023 gross amount represents an increase of 9.7% over the 2022 collection of
R1.884 trillion, while the refunds paid for 2023 is an increase of 18.7% over the 2022 amount. The 2023 net revenue collected represents year on year an increase of 7.9% over the net 2022 amount of R1.563 trillion. The net amount of R1.687 trillion must be seen against the 2021/22 outcome of R1.568 trillion, representing a year-on-year R123 billion increase,” Sars said.
The revenue collected annually provides 90% of the government’s funding.
Compared to the 2022 revenue outcome, growth was recorded in all tax types, said Sars, with personal income tax (PIT) growing 8.3% to R601.7bn; company income tax (CIT) growing by 7.6% to R348.0bn; value-added tax (VAT) growing by 8.0% to R422.2bn; and customs and other taxes growing by 27.4% to R73.9bn.
High-wealth Individuals and multinational entities will be seeing an increased focus by the regulator, Sars said.
“The journey of reimagining Sars has seen the establishment of a high-wealth individual unit, and the reinstatement of the large business and international segments. This step has enabled Sars to provide an end-to-end segmented and customised service, and compliance value proposition to individuals and large businesses.
“We are beginning to see the positive results in this space. Sars has collected R528.3 billion in these two segments and we are pleased with the improved level of compliance and will continue with this work…
“Importantly is the increased focus on all areas of non-compliance, including base erosion and profit-shifting, as well as aggressive tax avoidance through complicated structuring of tax affairs by high-wealth Individuals and multinational entities,” the revenue service said.
Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter has expressed his gratitude to the staff of Sars and compliant taxpayers and traders for contributing to this significant revenue outcome.
Cape Times