The commissioner-designate said that, following SARS’ record R2 trillion haul in 2025\/26, the revenue service has been tasked with collecting R2.13 trillion in 2026\/27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This task will be challenged by “the headwinds that are already starting to bloom,” he said, referring to the chaos caused by the United States’s war in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war has triggered a global energy crisis, sending fuel prices skyrocketing as shipments through the Strait of Hormuz were blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of the crisis, fuel prices were expected to shoot up by over R6 a litre for petrol and over R10 a litre for diesel in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced last-minute relief for fuel users, granting a R3 per litre cut to fuel taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outgoing SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter said the key caveat is that the National Treasury’s fuel levy relief is only valid for a month<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The levy cut was not intended to be a long-term solution, but a pause for the government and local finance authorities to assess the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The month is really to give us time to understand [the length], the severity and the magnitude of this crisis,” Kieswetter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said that fuel has a knock-on effect on everything else, because it is central to the production, logistics and flow of goods and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Invariably, fuel will have an impact on the cost of living\u2026[the relief] buys the minister some time to understand what exactly is happening,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the SARS leads warned that the relief does not come without a price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking on the cost of the relief, commissioner-designate Makhubu said that the bill for the fuel levy relief is coming, and that taxpayers will have to foot it, one way or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Fuel levies are pencilled in at R104 billion for this financial year in terms of total collections. The [fuel levy] relief is going to cost around R6 billion,” Makhubu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It is expected to be cost-neutral\u2014this suggests that the R6 billion will have to come from somewhere<\/strong>. We do expect that we may be asked to work extra hard to get that<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Makhubu and the team at SARS will now be under pressure to ensure these collections happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The commissioner-designate will formally assume the top position at SARS from 1 May 2026, after the one-month relief has ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Treasury has not yet announced how the relief process will terminate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Treasury previously offered relief for fuel prices in 2022<\/strong><\/a>, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During this time, R1.50 was cut from fuel levies for three months (April-June), before being added back over two months (75c at a time), terminating in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As it currently stands, the R3 fuel levy relief is just expected to simply terminate on 6 May 2026, at which point it will presumably be added back into the fuel price.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFuel levy losses must be paid<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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