Tax payers get back billions

The South African Revenue Service paid R18.5 billion in refunds to 2.22 million taxpayers at the close of the 2016/17 tax season for non-provisional taxpayers on Friday, Sars said.

These refunds – a 26% increase on last year – applied to returns filed for the 2016/2017 tax year submitted during the “tax season” from July 1 to November 24, Sars said in a statement yesterday.

“In total, R19.8 billion in refunds has been paid to individuals for this financial year to date, inclusive of prior year returns, directly contributing to household incomes and the domestic economy; 93.63% of returns [were] processed within 24 hours.

“Significantly, during tax season 2017, Sars prevented R2.7 billion in fraudulent claims in the personal income tax environment, saving the fiscus of potential revenue loss. This was a R900 million (50%) improvement from last year, where R1.8 billion in fraudulent claims was prevented during the same period (tax season),” Sars said.

Sars received 5.67 million returns, including returns filed for prior years, by Friday, November 24. Provisional taxpayers had until January 31 to file their tax returns via eFiling.

A total 94% of expected returns from individuals were submitted on time, exceeding last year’s rate of 91%. The returns expected were informed by last year’s submissions and IRP5 information from employers, excluding provisional taxpayers.

The introduction of e-DNA ensured the biometric authentication of taxpayers. – ANA