The South AfricanRevenue Services has received over 1.2 million applications for tax directives for withdrawals from the two-pot system with over R21 billion paid out. Of the total number of applications, 1,148,729 tax directives were approved for funds to be released, while the rest were declined for a variety of reasons, including incorrect ID numbers and incorrect tax numbers. This was revealed by SARS in in a statement last night.

BILLIONS PAID OUT

According to Sars, a total of R21.4 billion has been paid out to date. "In line with SARS's intent for taxpayers to use digital channels, SARS is happy to announce that the simulated WhatsApp calculator has been used 51,547 times since implementation of the process. The simulated calculator on the SARS website, which forms part of the SARS online query system, has been used 655,801 times," said the statement. SARS also thanked retirement fund management entities for their co-operation that they say allowed the entity to play its part effectively and efficiently by speedily issuing the volumes of tax directives needed to date.

CONCERNS OVER THOSE WHO TRIED TO EVADE THEIR TAX OBLIGATIONS

SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said that they are concerned that 213,654 taxpayers declare incorrect taxable income to avoid paying the correct tax rate. "If a taxpayer understates their income, they are intentionally involved in evading their tax obligation. A penalty will be imposed on taxpayers who have understated income. Finally, I wish to caution taxpayers to refrain from this conduct that borders on criminality, as there are real consequences for this behaviour," said Kieswetter. He added that depending on the employee scale, a marginal tax rate of between 18 and 45% will be imposed on a withdrawal.