The South African Revenue Service (Sars) launched the 2016 tax season on Friday with commissioner Tom Moyane appealing for compliance.
"It will make you feel warm in your heart if you know that you pay your taxes, because you know that you’re a compliant citizen," Moyane told African News Agency (ANA) in Pretoria.
"If you pay your taxes, you can look around and say the infrastructure coming up in my country – the schools, hospitals and the roads that we have – are part of my contribution."
For 2016, SARS has an ambitious target of R1.175 trillion. Last year’s, a record R1 trillion was collected during the tax season.
From Friday, taxpayers can officially commence the completion and submission of their 2016 income tax returns.
The tax season represents the single biggest annual engagement between SARS and taxpayers, when more than four million taxpayers submit their income tax returns.
Not everyone needs to submit an income tax return. Taxpayers whose annual total salary does not exceed R350 000 may not submit returns under certain conditions.
Last year, 5.94 million submissions were submitted to SARS which was 11.52 percent higher than in 2014. This included individuals, trusts and prior year submissions.
– African News Agency (ANA)
