Revenue shortfall at Sars self-inflicted
Commission of inquiry told that collection woes are ‘far from over’
The SA Revenue Service (Sars) has breached regulations by inflating compliance figures for corporate and personal income tax, the auditor-general found in his latest report. This was among the shocking evidence heard by the Sars commission of inquiry into governance and administration at the tax agency on Tuesday. The agency’s actions were described as "very serious" by the evidence leader, advocate Carol Steinberg, and member of the commission professor Michael Katz, who warned they had far-reaching implications for the budgeting process and future tax periods. The commission also heard that the revenue shortfall, which totalled R100bn over the past four years, could not just be attributed to economic factors, that it was self-inflicted and if the evidence presented before the inquiry was anything to go by, Sars’s revenue collection woes were far from over, which could mark yet another blow to SA’s already stretched fiscal position. Two presentations from senior officials showed th...
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