SARS collects over R1.8 trillion for 2024/25
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has exceeded its projections by collecting R1.855 trillion in net revenue for the 2024/25 financial year.
SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter announced the preliminary revenue outcome on Tuesday, which showed that the revenue services collected R8.8 billion more than initially estimated.
This was done despite tough economic conditions.
Kieswetter said SARS managed to collect a record R2.3 trillion in gross revenue, reflecting 6.9% year-on-year growth.
This outpaced the estimated 5.4% growth in the country’s nominal GDP.
"By the end of March 2025, SARS had collected a record gross amount of R2.303 trillion, representing year-on-year growth of 6.9% against estimated nominal GDP growth of 5.4% (2024/2025),” he said.
“In this difficult economic environment, SARS paid refunds of R447.7 billion to taxpayers, the highest-ever amount in refunds (versus R413.9 billion in the prior year), representing growth of 8.2%.
“This brings the collected net amount to R1.855 trillion, which is almost R8.8 billion higher than the revised estimate, and R114.0 billion more than last year’s R1.741 trillion," said Kieswetter.
While Kieswetter was pleased that R447.7 billion was returned into the hands of taxpayers, he raised concerns about the ever-present threat of refund fraud and abuse of the system.
"To illustrate this problem, in the period under review, SARS prevented the outflow of R146.7billion of impermissible refunds.
“The preliminary revenue collection represents a substantial tax-to-GDP ratio of 24.8%, reflecting the country’s fiscal health and efficiency in revenue generation.
“Moreover, the tax-buoyancy ratio for the fiscal year 2024/25 was estimated at 1.20, indicating the robust response of tax revenue relative to economic growth.
“This buoyancy ratio underscores the government’s capacity to adapt its revenue-collection strategies to the dynamic economic environment, ensuring sustained fiscal stability and growth.
“In the fiscal year 2024/25, the performance of key taxes has been a critical indicator of economic stability as South Africa navigates the complexity of post-pandemic recovery," he said.
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