Pretoria - The SA Revenue Service (Sars) collected 9.6% more tax last year than the year before, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday.
Speaking in Pretoria on revenue collected during the 2012/13 fiscal year which ended on March 31, he said total revenue was R814.1bn. This was 9.6% higher than the R742.6bn collected during 2011/12. It was also R4bn above the 2013 revised estimate.
Sars had performed well, given the current global economic environment and domestic supply side disruptions, Gordhan said.
The disruptions were mainly in the mining sector, which led to a moderation in economic growth from 3.5% in 2011 to 2.5% in 2012.
The three main revenue contributors were personal income tax, corporate income tax, and value added tax (VAT).
Total collections on personal income tax were R276.8bn, up by 10.1% compared to the previous financial year’s R251.3bn. This was R2bn (0.7%) more than the 2013 revised estimate.
Corporate income tax collections grew by 5.1% (R7.8bn) to R161.1bn, compared to the previous year’s revenue of R153.3bn. This figure was 2.1% (R3.4bn) above the revised estimate in the 2013 budget.
Collections from VAT rose by 12.8%, to R215.5bn, when compared to last year’s R191bn. VAT receipts were marginally lower by R1.6bn (0.7%) against the revised estimate in the 2013 budget.