JOHANNESBURG - The South African Revenue Service (Sars) said yesterday that it has paid more than R205 billion in refunds across all types of tax in the past 10-and-a-half months.
Sars said the payout to individuals and companies, from the beginning of the financial year on April 1, 2017 to February 9, 2018, represented a significant boost to the economy given the current economic climate.
The amount of R205bn paid in refunds was more than the total budget allocated for defence, public order and safety in 2017, which amounted to R198.7bn.
VAT refunds amounted to R170.2bn, a 6% increase compared with R160.6bn paid at the same time last year.
Personal income tax refunds increased by 16% to R24.1bn, compared with the R20.7bn paid last year. Company income tax refunds amounted to R11.4bn, a 5% increase compared with the R10.9bn paid last year.
Sars said there has been an increase in refund pay-outs across all tax types in the past three years.
“While Sars takes great care in paying legitimate refunds to compliant taxpayers, it also has the responsibility to clamp down on fraudulent claims. Since the beginning of the current financial year on April 1, 2017, Sars has stopped refund fraud across all tax types of more than R28bn,” Sars said.