R1 trillion tax target for this season, says Sars

PRETORIA: A target of R1 trillion has been set for tax collection season 2015-2016, and mechanisms are in place to achieve this, SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane has said.

Moyane launched the tax season yesterday and told the media that Sars staff had been ready to work on meeting this target since April. “Today heralds the beginning of a journey to achieve this target, and it depends on the readiness of the people, the conditions on the ground and the configuration of our offices to deal with tax collection,” he said.

Moyane and Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and a delegation went on a walkabout at Sars offices and spoke to staff and members of the public who were there to file their taxes yesterday morning.

“It is encouraging to notice that, despite the availability of e-filing options, people still prefer to come to file here,” the minister said, adding that it said a lot about the personal experience they depended on.

Nene and Moyane said people needed to be encouraged to file as early as possible. “Someone filed just after midnight today and by this morning they had been informed about their refund,” Nene said.

More than 17 000 people had already filed by 8am and 29 000 by 10am, he said.

Sars had made a lot of changes to improve the experience of people coming in to submit taxes. “Taxpayers want to be here for a few minutes, deal with what they need to and leave, and so our systems work as quickly as possible,” he said.

Some restraints included incomplete documentation and the threat of identity theft. “We need to upgrade the system to include checking the biometric identity of people.”

Among documents needed are an ID document, the IRP5 certificate, details of medical expenses and a medical aid certificate as proof of deductions made for medical aid. The minister and commissioner emphasised the importance of honouring one’s obligation to pay taxes, saying failure to pay would result in charges ranging from R250 a month to R16 000.

Moyane also warned people not to fall for scams that came via SMS or e-mails. “Do not be hoodwinked into sending your banking details to these people. Sars does not deal like that,” he said.

Deadlines are September 30 for those submitting by post, November 27 for nonprovisional taxpayers and January 29, 2016, for provisional taxpayers who have also been given until January 31, 2016, to submit through e-filing.