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The South Africa Revenue Service’s (SARS) failure to meet its revised revenue target by more than R700 million confirms the dearth of institutional governance at SARS and low taxpayer morality under Tom Moyane’s disastrous tenure as SARS commissioner.

Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s announcement that SARS had collected R1,216.6 trillion against a revised target of R1,217.3, exposes the ‘crisis of confidence’ that had crept into SARS and its ability to effectively manage revenue collection.

Government now has no other option but to close the gap of the R700 million shortfall through increased borrowings as it is unlikely that there will be additional expenditure savings to counter the revenue shortfall for the year ending 31st of March 2018.

The acting SARS Commissioner, Mark Kingon, must be commended for trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat to achieve the revenue of R1, 217.3 trillion that was predicted in the 2017 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBS).

Minister Nene is faced with the urgent task of restoring sanity at SARS by ensuring that a permanent and effective Commissioner is appointed as a matter of urgency to clean up the mess left by Tom Moyane.

Issued by DA