Finance Minister boosts SARS funding by R8bn

ANTI-CORRUPTION MEASURES

- HOPE NTANZI

FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana says nearly 50 percent of Treasury's R91.83 billion departmental budget over the medium term will go to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), marking a significant investment in modernising the country's tax collection systems.

Speaking during his 2025/26 budget vote speech, Godongwana announced that SARS will receive R45.76 billion, or 49.8% of the Treasury's budget, excluding direct charges, over the next three years.

This is an R8 billion increase from the previous year's allocation.

The funding, he said, is aimed at “enhancing their ability to collect debt through better systems, increasing staff capacity and modernising their processes to establish e-invoicing for VAT, instant payment systems and upgrades of customs infrastructure”.

“To monitor progress and improve transparency, last week we published monthly debt collection data from SARS for the first time,” said Godongwana.