ActionSA on Tuesday rejected proposed cuts to South African Revenue Service (Sars) budget, calling on the Government of National Unity to ensure that critical institutions are sufficiently funded to give full effect to their mandates.

ActionSA MP Alan Beesley explained that as outlined in the proposed budget, Sars faced substantial cuts, with a nominal reduction of R769-million and a real cut of R1.3-billion, which the party contended were “unworkable” and thus, demanded its reversal.

Beesley highlighted that owing to the critical role that Sars plays in collecting over 90% of the government's revenue, the party believed that it was ill-advised to further limit the capacity of the revenue collector.

Beesley said if Sars could  not operate at full capacity, it would lead to constraints on the fiscal coffers.

The party noted that the cuts would adversely impact Sars’s ability to effectively collect revenue and perform its mandate, potentially affecting the overall fiscal balance sheet.

ActionSA said it was “nonsensical” that while essential State functions such as Sars and the judiciary “suffer under broad austerity measures”, the billion-rand perks of a bloated Cabinet remain seemingly untouched.

He said that in effect, by cutting Sars' budget, the government was biting the hand that feeds it, which, he said defied all logic.

“Rather than cutting Sars' budget, it should be further capacitated to increase revenue collections by targeting the political elite and other criminal syndicates that, through illegal activities, remain outside the tax net,” he added.