House Chair, this is basically a taxation bill that sets out rates and monetary amounts. In that regard, the ACDP would like to commend SARS for the higher-than-anticipated revenue collection—that revenue is set to exceed the budget estimates by a staggering R19.7 billion!
May’s budget allocated an additional R4 billion to SARS which was intended to strengthen debt collection and thereby increase revenue collected by between 20 and 50 billion rand per year. So, we’ve almost reached the R20 billion mark.The extra R4 billion given to SARS has paid off handsomely and will, hopefully, cover the R20 billion shortfall that was anticipated in next year’s budget. That would then result in taxes not having to be increased at all.
The ACDP also expects SARS to collect more revenue by bringing in an estimated 150,000 taxpayers who are not registered or have not filed tax returns despite substantial economic activity. Additionally, SARS can reduce the tax gap, which is the difference between taxes legally owed and taxes collected, and is estimated to be R300 billion. Just think, if SARS collected 10% of that, that would be an extra R30 billion to the fiscus, and yes—whilst we all pay tax and it’s not always easy, let us remember: ‘Render unto Caesar what is due unto Caesar, and unto God what is due unto God’.
In addition, the ACDP has always maintained that the billions of rands that were stolen through state capture and corruption can be recovered by further capacitating law enforcement and prosecuting agencies, including the Hawks, SIU and the NPA which includes the Asset Forfeiture Unit. These additional funds, much of which is sitting in overseas bank accounts, can be collected and brought back to the country to help balance the books.
Of particular importance—and I know honourable Ghana will also be pleased about this—is Treasury’s proposal to mitigate the socio-economic harm of online gambling by imposing a 20% tax. This is a response to the growth of online gambling and its social impact, including gambling addictions. There’s been a massive surge in this regard and the number of distressed gamblers seeking help has increased sevenfold. It is staggering that South Africans spend R4 billion a day on gambling, and gaming platforms have raked in R75 billion in gross revenue. This proposal, therefore, could raise an additional R10 billion in additional taxes for the fiscus.
Lastly, the ACDP believes taxpayers rightfully expect value for every rand spent by government.
We will support this bill.
I thank you.
