Pretoria: The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has welcomed Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), delivered on Wednesday, showing that the revenue service collected over R900 billion in revenue. By 30 September 2025, SARS had collected a net revenue of R924.7 billion, drawn from gross collections of R1 157.6 billion and refund payments of R232.9 billion. This marks year-on-year growth of R78.6 billion and an overall surplus of R18 billion against the printed estimates, indicating a promising trajectory for the second half of the financial year. Nearly 50% of the better than estimated performance came from compliance efforts.
According to South African Government News Agency, in its statement, the revenue service welcomed the tabling of the MTBPS and the Minister’s revision of the 2025 Budget net tax-revenue estimate, from R1 985.6 billion to R2 005.3 billion. Commissioner Edward Kieswetter expressed SARS’s support for the Minister’s statement, which charts a clear and pragmatic roadmap for South Africa’s fiscal sustainability. The MTBPS sets out measures to strengthen the country’s economic resilience. SARS is committed to supporting these objectives by focusing on robust revenue collection, improved compliance, and trade facilitation through consistent effort and operational excellence.
SARS’s compliance programme continues to deliver results. In the same period, SARS secured R131.6 billion from compliance activities, up from R122.6 billion in the previous year. Debt collections reached R47.1 billion, an increase of R3.3 billion (7.5%), reinforcing SARS’s contribution to the national fiscus. The revenue service credited its achievement to the effort of its employees and compliant taxpayers. The Commissioner highlighted the dedication of SARS employees and the contribution of compliant taxpayers as key factors in strengthening South Africa’s fiscal outlook.
Building on this momentum, revenue collection has shown resilience across major tax categories. Collections from Corporate Income Tax (CIT), PAYE, Dividends Tax, Domestic VAT, General Fuel Levy (Imported), as well as lower-than-estimated VAT-refund payments, consistently outperformed expectations. Year-to-date CIT Provisional Tax payments amounted to R164.5 billion, growing by R14.2 billion (9.5%) and exceeding the printed estimates by R4.7 billion (3.0%). Collections were boosted by invoking Paragraph 19(3) that yielded an additional R10.0 billion with major contributions from companies in the Mining and Finance sectors.
PAYE collections of R371.0 billion recorded growth of R30.9 billion (9.1%) against the prior year and exceeded the printed estimate by R3.2 billion (0.9%). The growth was driven mainly by payments from employers in the finance and community sectors. Tax proposals announced at Budget 2025 included no inflationary adjustments to Personal Income Tax (PIT) tax brackets and rebates, measures expected to yield R16.7 billion for the full year. Dividend tax collections amounted to R22.3 billion, growing by R5.3 billion (31.0%) against the prior year and recording a surplus of R4.6 billion (25.7%) against the printed estimates.
Domestic VAT collections totaled R292.7 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of R21.1 billion (7.8%). This was driven mainly by growth in the finance, wholesale and retail, and manufacturing sectors, partially offset by the transport sector. Year-to-date Domestic VAT collections exceeded the printed estimates by R5.2 billion (1.8%).
Import VAT underperformed by R3.7 billion due to lower growth in the value of imports. Lower than expected VAT refund payments, totaled R183.9 billion, or a marginal increase of R0.2 billion (0.1%) from the prior year. General Fuel Levy collections of R44.7 billion were R2.1 billion (5.0%) higher than in the prior year and exceeded the printed estimates by R2.3 billion (5.3%).
SARS said these surpluses were partially offset by lower-than-expected collections from PIT Provisional taxes, PIT Assessments, and Customs taxes; as well as higher-than-estimated PIT refund payments. PIT Refunds of R32.2 billion recorded growth of R4.5 billion (16.2%) against the prior year and exceeded the printed estimates by R1.4 billion (4.4%). Additionally, 7.3 million PIT returns were received, with 5.7 million returns being auto-assessed.
Commissioner Kieswetter reaffirmed SARS’s commitment to building a smart, modern institution anchored in integrity and trust. SARS aims to advance national fiscal goals in the face of challenges such as debt, unemployment, and inequality. To support these efforts, Minister Godongwana allocated an additional R7.5 billion to SARS over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.