Chief of the revenue service, Edward Kieswetter said on Monday that South Africans could start withholding their tax payments due to years of corruption which might force the country to seek an international bailout.
Africa’s most industrialised economy has seen revenue collection fall sharply since 2015 due to weak economic growth and maladministration, leading President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire the revenue service boss last November in the wake of a judicial inquiry that has triggered an executive clean out.
New Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Edward Kieswetter, hired in March, told a tax conference in Johannesburg that falling trust in the collector by individuals and companies had led to rising levels of tax avoidance and fraud, bleeding billions from government.
When public trust wanes, as is the current case, then taxpayers feel morally justified to withhold or manipulate their taxes,” Kieswetter said.
“When revenue collect
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