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ActionSA can reveal that a staggering 2 901 companies currently owe the South African Revenue Service (SARS) an astronomical R216 billion, while 1 156 individual taxpayers owe an additional R62 billion, bringing the total unpaid taxes to a jaw-dropping R277 billion, which accounts for almost 90% of tax revenue owed to SARS. 

In response to ActionSA’s Parliamentary Question, which sought to understand the number of companies and individuals owing more than R10 million to the revenue collector, this shocking revelation has brought into stark focus that, despite this, SARS has faced significant budget cuts amounting to R1.3 billion. 

In July this year, ActionSA raised alarm over the R1.3 billion budget cut to SARS, despite the fact that the revenue collector generates over 90% of the government's revenue. Consequently, this revelation highlights the impact, as SARS is ostensibly being hobbled in collecting what is owed to the fiscus, with individuals and companies owing a staggering R277 billion. 

While nearly every government department is crippled by sweeping austerity measures, from policing to healthcare where in education, qualified teachers now face the grim reality of unemployment due to budget cuts that will severely impact the quality of education. Meanwhile, R277 billion, which should be reinvested into the fiscus, remains unaccounted for.

ActionSA believes that SARS must be fully capacitated to recover this amount but more importantly, in line with SARS’s own appeals for adequate budget allocation, ActionSA will continue to advocate through the Standing Committee of Finance to reverse the impact of prolonged underfunding and ensure that SARS functions at maximum efficiency. 

Issued by ActionSA Member of Parliament Alan Beesley