The 2022 tax season will open in July – a condensed filing season compared to 2021, which was extended due to the long-tail impact of the pandemic, notes Hannes van den Berg, CEO at Consult by Momentum, who adds that instilling trust in taxpayers is vital to increasing tax collection.<\/p>\n
“A key change to this year\u2019s tax season sees auto-assessments no longer needing to be manually \u2018accepted\u2019 if the taxpayer agrees with the calculation; an attempt by the South African Revenue Service (SARS)\u00a0to bolster tax collection, given the rising number of South Africans who are failing to submit their tax returns.”<\/p>\n
Van den Berg believes that there is a great deal of work to be done to rebuild taxpayer confidence in the current structures if SARS is to make good on its mission of bolstering the tax coffers. He said that while there has been a couple of high-profile tax evasion court cases recently, the number of instances where SARS has needed to resort to court measures to recover revenue is relatively low.<\/p>\n
Rather, he believes that what we should be very wary of is the increasing migration of taxpayers \u2013 a trend that has become evident among high net worth individuals (HNWI), who make up a significant portion of the country’s taxpayer base.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen an increase in client inquiries around immigration, dual citizenship and the externalisation (offshoring) of assets. This has the effect of causing severe leakages in our tax bucket,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said that the tax collector needs to boost its revenue collection \u2013 and fast. The National Treasury and SARS\u2019 joint publication on 2021 Tax Statistics revealed that revenue collection for the 2020\/21 fiscal year had declined by almost 8% \u2013 or R106.1 billion.<\/p>\n
However, its options have become increasingly limited against the current economic backdrop of slow growth, load shedding, skyrocketing unemployment and rising inflation, said Van den Berg.<\/p>\n
“Yes, this past quarter showed signs of recovery, with large retailer groups reporting promising results. Sadly, this is likely to be short-lived, with massive fuel hikes and inflation eating into the income of consumers.”<\/p>\n
Momentum said that the government knows there is no real wiggle room to increase personal income tax, and its recent announcement around the extension of the fuel levy cut shows that it is well aware that consumers are on the brink. \u201cAny attempt to increase the individual tax burden could push South Africans over the edge and cause resistance, as we recently saw with the e-toll rebellion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van den Berg said that the only real options available to SARS are to find new ways of increasing revenue through indirect taxes \u201cAt the end of the day, consumers will still pay, but it might be a marginally less bitter pill to swallow.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other avenue is to increase revenue collection among its current taxpayer base. SARS has announced that it will pursue this route by curbing current exemptions, thereby reducing the system\u2019s complexity and broadening the tax base.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s trying to gain a better understanding of the causal factors behind the drop in revenue, but it certainly cannot discount the fact that taxpayers are stretched beyond their limits and frustrated by the current state of affairs,\u201d said Van den Berg.<\/p>\n
Another consideration is that a small minority of South Africans are paying an inordinately large amount of tax, but that they are not experiencing satisfactory service delivery, leading to further frustration.<\/p>\n
According to Momentum, the issue of social grants is another matter that often proves contentious among taxpayers. Van den Berg said that while there may be taxpayer buy-in from a humanitarian perspective, many funds allocated towards social expenditure have been lost due to corruption. Moreover, some are concerned that a growing reliance on social grants (SA already spends 3.3% of its GDP on social expenditure) will curb economic recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe outtake is that law-abiding citizens who see tax as being integral to a functioning society are growing concerned about dutifully paying their taxes and seeing little return.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what can be done to rebuild taxpayer confidence and increase tax collection \u2013 critical to SA\u2019s economic recovery?<\/p>\n
Van den Berg said that while SARS is a robust institution, it needs to ensure that it employs the necessary skillsets to deeply understand and interrogate the tax affairs of companies and individuals, so that it can make individualised rather than blanket assessments.<\/p>\n
\u201cSubmitting a tax return is causing fear among taxpayers \u2013 this shouldn\u2019t be the case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Finally \u2013 and most importantly \u2013 he said, there needs to be an active effort to hold those who are guilty of fraud, corruption and tax evasion to account. “There should be no fear or favour when it comes to prosecuting guilty parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis proves to taxpayers that no one is above the law and that an active effort is being made to direct tax revenue to where it is needed most \u2013 rather than into the pockets of unscrupulous individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n