The South African Revenue Service (SARS) says that as of Monday, over two million applications had been received for two-pot withdrawals with a total gross value of R49.5 billion.
Commissioner Edward Kieswetter says 211 032 directives were declined as people had the wrong ID, incorrect tax numbers or insufficient funds.
He says 28 525 directives were cancelled by taxpayers who changed their minds.
Kieswetter says the work accomplished so far by SARS is mainly because of good cooperation with retirement fund management entities.
He thanked these institutions, which play a critical role in the tax ecosystem, for their professionalism, allowing them to efficiently and speedily issue required tax directives.
SARS Online Query System
Kieswetter says that in line with SARS' intent for taxpayers to use digital channels, they are pleased to announce that the simulated WhatsApp calculator has been used 53,693 times since the process was implemented.
The simulated calculator on the SARS website, which forms part of the SARS Online Query System, has been used 850 375 times.
SARS has received 102,839 queries through the voice channel and 17,627 at branches.
Commissioner Kieswetter cautioned taxpayers to avoid any actions that could constitute criminality and emphasized the importance of using the correct identity and tax numbers when applying for this benefit, encouraging voluntary compliance.
