Tag: tax collection

Instilling trust in taxpayers is vital to increasing tax collection. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that the 2022 tax season will open in July; a condensed filing season compared to 2021, which was extended due to the long-tail impact of the pandemic.

The prolonged Russia-Ukraine war is ushering in a new era of volatility and possible recession for South Africa and the world. When Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered his maiden budget speech in February 2022, little did he know that Russia would invade Ukraine the very next day, immediately changing both the world and South Africa’s economic outlook for 2022 and beyond.

The 2022 Budget was tabled to Parliament on 23 February 2022 by South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

When it comes to funding the basic income grant (BIG), I caution against putting further financial pressure on tax-paying citizens and the private sector. The BIG is the big issue on the table this year, as Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana prepares his inaugural Budget Speech.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has made evident its no-nonsense stance in media statements over the preceding months and shown that actions speak louder than words in light of the recent judgements of the Pretoria High Court on the state capture loot, and Zuma’s tax records.

Despite perceiving the overall risks to CPI as on the upside, all five members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 3.5%. The repo rate has been on this level since 23 July 2020.

As the SARS collection process becomes more technologically advanced, tax practitioners must advise clients to avoid tax evasion and remain compliant. SARS will soon become so efficient at detecting tax evasion and recovering hidden revenues, it will no longer be worth it to lie on returns.

On Tuesday Stats SA announced that SA’s GDP had contracted 51% between April and June (using annualised quarter on quarter numbers – in other words, this is a 17% decrease for the quarter) as a result of the lockdown imposed in response to Covid-19. The contraction was shocking – but not unexpected. Given that government took the decision to implement one of the harshest and longest lockdowns globally, the severity of the economic contraction should not come as a surprise.  

On Wednesday, 24 June, Minister Mboweni will table a Special Adjustment Budget. This is an extraordinary event, precipitated by the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak that has caused so many deaths and ravaged great parts of the economy.

The 2020 Budget was tabled to Parliament on 26 February 2020 by South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.