WeeklySA_AdminBACKLOG: Commissioner Johnstone Makhubu calls for action on a backlog of more than 1 000 tax cases as SARS intensifies its fight against illicit trade and pursues a higher revenue target…
By Lehlohonolo Lehana
South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Johnstone Makhubu has called on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to fast-track the prosecution of tax-related cases.
Speaking at the RMB Think Budget breakfast, held a day after the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS),
Makhubu said he had met NPA head Advocate Andy Mothibi twice over coffee to discuss speeding up cases. The two institutions were working together, he said.
Makhubu said investigators pursuing tax evasion and other criminal activity, sometimes at considerable risk to their lives, became frustrated when their work did not result in prosecutions. He suggested the NPA’s backlog could exceed 1 000 tax-related cases.
If you’ve got 1 000-plus cases that are sitting in a backlog with [the] prosecution, it does not mean that the tax administration has
not done its work. It has done its work …
“If you’ve got 1 000-plus cases that are sitting in a backlog with [the] prosecution, it does not mean that the tax administration has not done its work. It has done its work …”
SARS is also stepping up efforts to tackle the illicit economy, including the sale of cigarettes and alcohol without the payment of excise duties.
Makhubu said whether the annual tax loss amounted to R100 billion or R200 billion, the figure was unacceptably high.
By the end of the calendar year, SARS plans to issue a tender for a technological solution to track products and identify illicit trade.
The proposed system would cover alcohol, cigarettes and pharmaceuticals, as well as products subject to the Health Promotion Levy on sugary beverages.
SARS is also in discussions with the South African Bank Note Company, a subsidiary of the South African Reserve Bank, to develop a marker for products on which excise duties have been paid. Makhubu said the marker should use technology comparable to, or better than, that used to authenticate banknotes.
He added that artificial intelligence had helped SARS stop incorrect VAT refunds worth R61 billion.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana revealed this week that tax collections had exceeded targets set in the February Budget, prompting the National Treasury to raise its revenue estimate.
The revised tax collection estimate, contained in the MTBPS delivered on Wednesday, October 21, is a record R2.144 trillion — an increase of R17.1 billion from the February 2026 Budget estimate of R2.127 trillion.
Makhubu said SARS was ready to pursue the higher target.
The revenue service noted that the upward adjustment came despite deteriorating economic conditions, with the Treasury cutting its 2026 GDP growth forecast from 1.6% to 1.2%.
For the six months ended September 30, 2026, SARS collected R992.2 billion in net revenue. This comprised gross collections of R1.231 trillion, less refund payments totalling R239.1 billion.
Net revenue was R15.5 billion, or 1.6%, above the February Budget estimate and R67.4 billion, or 7.3%, higher than in the corresponding period last year. – Fullview
