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How Many Taxpayers Are in South Africa?
The SARS tax record contained more than 26 million entries as of March 31, 2019, excluding the following:
1) situations in which the people or things were suspended;
2)estates,
3) Entities having unclear addresses. 79% of the entries were made by individuals, who earned a total of R1.7 trillion. For 2020, there will be more than 27 million entries in the tax register.
In 2019, just 6.6 million (22.1 million individual taxpayers) were anticipated to file tax returns, while in 2020, when there were 22.9 million individual taxpayers, only 6.3 million (27.5%) were anticipated to file tax returns.
Which Organization is in charge of tax collection?
The Republic of South Africa’s tax collection is handled by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). According to their website, the South African Revenue Service’s mission and objective are to:
Collect all revenues due.
Ensure that all tax, customs, and excise laws are being followed to the letter.
Offer a customs and excise service that will support legal trade, safeguard our economy, and benefit society.
SARS is motivated by the desire to directly contribute to the economic and social development of the nation by obtaining the necessary funds for the government to fulfil its constitutional obligations, implement its policies, and prioritise its delivery of services in order to improve life for all South Africans.
Different Tax Types
Direct taxes are levied against all entities that fall under the umbrella term “person,” including individuals, trusts, estates of the deceased, businesses, and close corporations.
Indirect taxes– An intermediary is responsible for collecting indirect taxes from the party who is ultimately responsible for paying them. Later, the intermediary files a tax return and sends the government the tax money together with the return.
93% (or R1 133 billion) of the R1 216 billion that SARS collected in 2017/2018 came from taxes on domestic goods and services, which are a combination of direct and indirect taxes on both personal and business income and profits.
