‘Millions of South Africans think meeting tax obligations is cool’: Sars



The South African Revenue Service (Sars) attributed a “cool” factor to it being able to celebrate the percentage of taxpayers filing on time exceeding 90% for the third consecutive year. Sars was “proud of the high level of fiscal citizenship” of non-provisional taxpayers demonstrated by the receipt of 5.94 million returns by the end of Tax Season on Friday‚ said acting commissioner Jonas Makwakwa.“It is pleasing that millions of South African citizens agree that meeting their tax obligations is cool‚” Makwakwa said.“This high level of compliance contributes to nation building and enables the government to deliver services that improve the quality of life of all its citizens.”A breakdown of the 5.94 million returns:- 4.2 million returns were from individuals for the 2015 tax year;- 1.69 million were outstanding returns from prior years;- 45 390 were trust returns’;- 99.96% of returns were filed electronically‚ either via efiling representing 51.84%‚ or through electronically assisted filing at a Sars branch or mobile tax unit;- Manual submissions are down to less than 2000 returns‚ representing 0.04% of total volume;- More than 95% of all returns submitted were assessed within three seconds and more than 99% within 24 hours;- Sars paid out 1.82 million refunds to the value of R15-billion rand – more than 95% of these refunds were paid within 72 hours; and- Outstanding return submissions increased with 679544 returns‚ representing a growth of 66.43%.“We encourage taxpayers who have not yet submitted their returns to do so and join the majority of taxpayers who did so‚” Makwakwa said.