South Africa collects record $117B tax haul
South Africa’s tax authority posted a record 2.01 trillion rand ($117 billion) in collections this fiscal year, an 8.4% rise from a year earlier, giving the government a slim buffer as the continent’s biggest economy grapples with surging oil prices in the wake of the Iran war.
It is the first time the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has crossed the 2 trillion rand milestone in its nearly 30-year history, an achievement that outgoing head Edward Kieswetter said was “not an accident” but the outcome of an overhaul in the seven years since he took office.
Kieswetter, who is stepping down at the end of month, credited the increased tax revenue to improved compliance. He worked to restructure the tax agency, which was among several institutions mired in inefficiency amid a period of widespread corruption, during the tenure of former President Jacob Zuma. Kieswetter’s successor as tax chief was announced on Thursday.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana cut fuel levies last week to blunt a “historic” rise in the price of petrol, sacrificing millions of dollars in revenue and raising questions about how long Pretoria can absorb external pressures without reassessing its budget assumptions.