The SA Revenue Service (Sars) has reported a R16.7bn surplus in revenue from what was estimated in the February budget, with a total of R1.563-trillion collected, representing a 25% year-on-year increase.
Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter said on Friday during a media briefing that gross tax revenue totalled R1.885-trillion, which was offset by VAT refunds.
Kieswetter was joined by finance minister Enoch Godongwana and SA Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago at the announcement of the preliminary revenue collections outcome for 2021/2022.
Kieswetter said the revenue growth represents a 15% rise compared with pre-Covid-19 numbers, which shows that economic activity is normalising.
The main sources of revenue that contributed to the R1.563-trillion are personal income tax at R555.8bn, VAT of R390.7bn and company income tax totalling R323.6bn.
At the February 2021 budget, the finance minister set a revenue estimate for Sars of R1.365-trillion for the financial year that ended March 31 2022.
This estimate was adjusted upwards by R120.3bn in the 2021 medium-term budget policy statement.
Kieswetter said about six weeks ago, once Sars and the National Treasury knew more about the actual economic conditions for the fiscal year and the revenue collections, Godongwana had announced an upward revision of a further R61.7bn during his budget speech, increasing the full-year tax revenue estimate by R182bn, to R1.547-trillion.
On the final number, Kieswetter said the total collected was “positive” and “encouraging”. “This is a significant threshold we have achieved with the highest gross and net revenue collections.”
Speaking at the media briefing, Godongwana said revenue collections were buoyant because of strong economic recovery boosted by elevated commodity prices for much of the reporting period.
He said the substantial improvement in total tax revenue collections resulted in a 25% tax-to-GDP ratio, signalling a quicker return to pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels.
“Faster progress in implementing structural reforms will contribute to a more durable economic recovery and improved revenue collection,” Godongwana said.
Kieswetter said mining and manufacturing recorded the strongest real recoveries of 11.8% and 6.6%, respectively. He added that the agriculture, mining and personal services sector exceeded their pre-pandemic levels by the fourth quarter.
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