Sars takes on tax evasion

THREAT: ILLICIT TRADE 'DEVASTATES' FISCUS

- Moneyweb

The South African economy loses billions of rands to tax evasion and illicit financial flows annually, but the South African Revenue Service (Sars) continues to wage its battle against tax fraud.

In 2022, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated that South Africa was losing $3.5 billion to $5 billion (R62 billion to R88.8 billion) a year, or more than 1% of its GDP, to illicit financial flows.

In a statement on its website at the end of last year, Sars said it was determined to act on tax crime in SA and it wanted those committing these crimes to know that they are firmly in its sights.

Moneyweb recently reported that cheap cigarettes, sometimes selling for around R5 per packet of 20 in the market, translate into an estimated R28 billion loss to the fiscus annually. Or put differently, around R100 million each working day.