SARS eFiling problems
The South African Revenue Service’s (Sars) eFiling system experience ‘intermittent’ problems on Monday morning as thousands of taxpayers started filing their tax returns.
Speaking at the launch of the tax season in Edenvale, Barry Hore, chief operating officer of Sars, said by 10:30 18 622 people had already filed their returns electronically and 56 600 have opened a return with the intent of completing it.
Hore said Sars received some feedback that there have been sporadic problems with the eFiling system, but the system was not ‘down’ as thousands of people had already filed their returns electronically.
Its network supplier has indicated that the large volumes of people trying to file have created challenges, but that it is dealing with the problem, he said.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said it is difficult to say whether the high volumes of taxpayers filing tax returns could be attributed to financial pressures.
He does however believe that it is an indication of an increase in tax literacy – that people understand what a tax refund is and when they are entitled to it – and that they are trying to benefit from the quick turnaround times of the system.
With regards to financial pressures he warned however that South Africans have to be a lot more careful about how they borrow money and how they spend their money. South Africans need to focus on systemically reducing their debt levels so that households can use more money to keep a decent standard of living instead of paying off debt, he said.
Gordhan said some of his colleagues have criticised the role that micro lenders and others are playing in negatively influencing the financial stability of households.
He indicated that a lot more work needed to be done by Sars and National Treasury and other agencies to educate South Africans to not become too preoccupied with consumption, particularly conspicuous consumption.
Tax collection target
The tax revenue target for the 2013-year is R898bn. Government will also be borrowing around R170bn to finance total expenditure of over R1trn, Gordhan said.
The increase in the targeted tax revenue is about 9% compared with the prior year, which has been fairly consistent, he noted.
Gordhan emphasised that if Sars were able to collect more tax from honest individuals and companies, less will have to be borrowed. It will also reduce the interest burden on the country and more funds would be available for public expenditure and the delivery of housing and economic support. It would likewise help government to enhance the competitiveness of industries and to ensure that basic services are delivered in the right kind of way.
Gordhan said the tax authorities will focus on education, service and enforcement during the tax season. He stressed that Sars is making an effort to ensure that taxpayers declare their income properly, fairly and honestly in order not to pass on the burden of their contributions to others.
Tax practitioners
The start of tax season also introduces the first time that tax practitioners have to be registered with one of the controlling bodies recognised by Sars.
Gordhan says in recent times they have found “naughty” practitioners – people who are mischievously helping others to defraud the system by submitting tax returns with fraudulent claims.
This could lead to refunds of between R10 000 up to R60 000 being paid to people who are submitting fraudulent claims.
He warned these individuals that the revenue service will be tightening up its enforcement methods and will track down those who want to defraud the system.
Gordhan said as both political office bearers and people working in government they need to constantly reassure SA citizens that the taxes that they pay are used for the purposes they are paying it for – meaning to deliver public services to improve the infrastructure – economically and socially – and to ensure that that money is put to the best use.
He said they are aware of the fact that it does not always happen and are making many efforts – particularly through the new chief procurement office created within treasury – to ensure that it does.
They are also increasingly keeping an eye on big tenders that are emerging from government to ensure that those tenders are within the legitimate parameters. Municipalities, provinces or state entities are reminded that they need to be very cautious about how they proceed with respect to certain procurement measures, he said.
Source: Moneyweb
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