Revenue collection for the first three months of the year is slightly below expectations, figures from the Treasury show, raising concerns of another revenue shortfall for 2018/2019. But while revenue shortfalls for the past four years amounted to R100bn, few economists expect this trend to continue, although weak growth is still likely to undermine tax revenues as projected in February. The shortfalls have been both a function of lower than expected growth and weakness at the SA Revenue Service (Sars), which has been at the centre of allegations of poor management and corruption. Numbers for the three months ending June showed that Sars had so far collected 22.5% of the budget estimate. A Nedbank note issued early this week said that the numbers "raised the risk that the government deficit may yet again disappoint in this fiscal year. The latest monthly budget numbers for July indicate that especially personal income tax and company tax revenue [are] falling behind schedule. This w...
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