Pretoria - South Africans are urged to be sincere and
truthful with the SA Revenue Service (Sars) in the 2012 tax season.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told reporters in Pretoria
on Monday there would be consequences, including legal processes and penalties,
for people who do not comply with their tax obligations.
"In order for government to deliver services, in order
for the poor people in South Africa to benefit from taxes paid by South
Africans, we are trying to generate values in our society, the right kind
values which say we must declare honestly what we earn.
"These are values of solidarity, that we need to be
mindful of others as well," he said.
The tax season is the period in which individuals and trusts
must submit their income tax returns for the year. This year's season starts on
July 1.
"There are significant numbers of... people who do not
quite declare honestly. Those who choose to be non-compliant must bear the
brunt of enforcement, which is a crucial part of keeping social balances right
in any society around us," said Gordhan.
On Monday, Sars commissioner Oupa Magashula unveiled several
technological innovations to make filing easier this year.
"We have an eFiling app (application) for tablets,
iPads and smartphones. We have developed a mobi site for cellphone users."
He said about 12 million individual taxpayers contributed a
total of R251.6bn through personal tax income tax in the last year. This
amounted to 33.8% of the country's total revenue collection.
By 23:00 on Sunday, 18 031 taxpayers had filed their returns
via eFiling, said Magashula.