The acting commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Mark Kingon, is "having sleepless nights" about the revenue target. SARS set itself an ambitious 2018 target of R1.344-trillion. It missed the collection target by R700m in 2017. "There are many things that have gone on in the past few years that have detracted SARS from its mandate," said Kingon at the launch of the tax season in Alberton on Monday. Revenue collection fell short of budget targets over the past four fiscal years, with 2017’s shortfall amounting to R48.2bn. Revenue collection is driven by the state of the economy, fiscal policy and administrative efficiency, but under suspended SARS commissioner Tom Moyane, who was shrouded in controversy, tax compliance was at low levels last seen during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Part of the challenge was to rebuild SARS’s credibility after compliance had fallen substantially, said Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene. "Government is faced with three objectives: to...
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