STATISTICS


Economists have finally woken up to the fact that taxpayers get little to nothing for what they pay in taxes and duties, a Grant Thorton study shows the following alarming results:
  1. Officially there are 11m taxpayers with ONLY 6m individuals carrying 97% of the tax burden of the 50m + population!
  2. 2.75m people carry 64% of personal taxes and more than 60% of the TOTAL tax burden.
  3. Our highest tax bracket of 29% - 45% is significantly higher than the global average of approx 29% and to make makes far worse, they get something at least for their taxes.
  4. SARS increasingly collect with their mafia type tactics.
  5. For every R1 spent on corporate income taxes an ADDITIONAL 40c goes to other business taxes!
  6. Taxes include income tax, provisional tax, paye, sdl, UIF, OH&S, annual return levies, air passenger tax, donations tax, estate duty, CGT, transfer duty, securities transfer tax, VAT, vehicle ad valorem tax, carbon emission duties, airport taxes, incandescent light bulb tax (yes there is one!), environmental electricity levy, excise duties, plastic bag levy, TV licences, drivers licences, vehicle registration, general fuel levy, customs & excise, road accident fund, tolls, municipal rates, dividends tax - with new gambling and emission taxes to follow.
WELFARE STATE
South Africa is one of the largest welfare states in the world! It provides social security to 16 million people or 30% of the countrys 50+ million population.
  •  Individuals carry approx 60% of total income tax collected
  • 80% of this comes from 109 000 taxpayers 
  • Companys contribute relatively little.
  • VAT & fuel levies are major contributors
In otherwords approx 70% of total tax collection comes from individuals, directly or indirectly.
Expressed differently of the total R648bn collected , corporate's pay a mere R137bn with a further R17bn in WHT.


COMPLIANCE COSTS
Alongside corporate income tax and VAT, personal income tax is one of the three main tax instruments and provides the basis for the progressive structure of South Africa’s tax system. SARS estimated that:

    Sample tax statistics covering our individual client tax base:

    Individual Tax Rates:
    • Maximum Tax Rate 45%
    Provisional Tax Statistics:
    • Average time to receive Return critical information from clients = LATE
    • Average time spent per submission = 90 minutes
    • Average telecons per submission = 2
    • Average number emails to agree amounts = 5
    • Average mouse clicks to e-file = 60+
    • Average on time filing = 93%

     Other Statistics
    • Average number emails received & responded to per day = 90
    • Average number of faxes received per day = 1
    • Average number of calls per day = 5
    • Average response time to complex telephone queries = 12-36 hours
    • Average number of unexpected walk-ins per day = 3