Edward Kieswetter on Thursday said that imports decreased, with local VAT also affected during the hard lockdown, adding that the tax base was also getting smaller.
South African Revenue Service (Sars) Commissioner Edward Kieswetter. Picture: @sarstax/Twitter
JOHANNESBURG – South African Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Edward Kieswetter on Thursday said that the hard lockdown had a significant effect on revenue collection, with a major decline in domestic value-added tax (VAT) and other taxes.
Kieswetter was reacting to Wednesday’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) where Finance Minister Tito Mboweni noted a decrease in revenue collection.
• READ: Tito Mboweni’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement
Kieswetter said that imports had decreased, with local VAT also affected.
“Domestic VAT has decreased by 6.7%. There it is the financial services sector, the manufacturing sector, personal services that were no longer offered, including alcohol and tobacco, we’ve seen a significant decline there,” Kieswetter said.
And added to this, the Sars commissioner said that the tax base was getting smaller.
“The really scary part though is that in the second quarter we reported 2.2 million job losses. We have seen an increase in the number of applications for retrenchments shooting up from 144,000 last year this time to 248,000 this year for the same period, and then we’ve business rescues shoot up,” he said.
