The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has been allocated R3.5 billion in the current financial year and an additional R4 billion over the medium term.
Tabling the 2025 Budget Speech on Wednesday, Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said broadening the tax base and improving the administrative efficiency of SARS allows government over time, to spread the tax burden more evenly and equitably.
With this budget allocation, SARS will focus on leveraging technology, data science and artificial intelligence to foster efficiency and transparency in tax administration while combating exploitation by criminal syndicates.
“By the end of February this year, SARS reported a significant increase in undisputed debt. This means billions of Rands are owed to the State. The revenue collector has also detected 156 000 taxpayers who are not registered or have not filed despite their substantial economic activity.
“I call on all South Africans to comply with the law and support SARS in its endeavour to collect the revenues that enable government to fund and provide critical services. I also want to emphasise the importance of tax compliance.
“I thank all compliant taxpayers who pay their fair share of taxes. I also encourage those that are not compliant to do the right thing. The rewards of higher tax compliance and efficiency take time. Once again, the investments we make today in SARS will allow the collector the time to make improvements,” Godongwana said in Parliament.
Over the past five years, SARS has made significant progress in rebuilding and modernising its systems by shifting to online services and automating many of its processes to improve service, detect fraud and enhance compliance.
“In 2025/26, SARS will focus on addressing the tax gap to improve revenue collection. This will be done by improving taxpayer compliance and trade facilitation by leveraging artificial intelligence and data science.
“SARS is deploying technologies to simplify its processes and enhance the single window platform to improve taxpayer and trader service. Adopting scanning technologies and intelligent image analysis will significantly reduce inspection times through ports of entry,” according to the 2025 National Treasury Budget Review document.
The traveller declaration system is being modernised to provide digital services to cross border travellers and state entities, reducing illicit financial flows and other risks. –SAnews.gov.za
