National treasury has allocated R3-billion to the South African Revenue Service for “modernisation” efforts that it hopes will improve revenue collection.
In the budget speech on Wednesday, finance minister Enoch Godongwana said Sars will receive R7.5-billion in total over the next three years, with R3.5-billion of that sum allocated for the current financial year.
The additional money will be used in part to purchase digital tools that will help it collect taxes owing to it.
“For modernisation, the [standing] committee [on finance] supports the allocation of an additional R3-billion over the medium-term expenditure framework. This investment should facilitate digital upgrades, automation and improvements in taxpayer services and compliance efforts,” national treasury said in its budget review documents.
Treasury noted the increasing importance of digital tools and technical skills in Sars’s efforts to maximise revenue collection, adding that previous allocations for digital projects at Sars correlated directly to increases in the amount of money collected.
Sars previously received an additional allocation of R1-billion to enhance its tax collection capabilities in the 2023 adjustment budget. In the 2024 budget, an extra R1-billion was allocated each year for the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 financial years for the same purpose.
Data analytics
In the medium-term budget policy statement last October, additional funding of R500-million for 2025/2026, R1.5-billion for 2026/2027 and R1.5-billion for 2027/2028 were allocated to Sars to “support capital projects and strengthen the revenue-raising capabilities”.
Other than the digital projects themselves, Sars has also been given allocations to bring in the skills required by a modernised revenue collection authority.
Read: South Africa cuts luxury tax on basic smartphones
“The committee recommends an allocation of R1.5-billion to support the hiring of 2 338 additional resources. Strengthening Sars’s human resources is vital for improving service delivery, enforcing compliance and effectively utilising data analytics in tax administration,” treasury said in the budget review published on Wednesday. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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