Over R21 billion paid out in two-pot withdrawals since September

After just over a month of implementing the two-pot retirement system, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that R21,4 billion has already been paid out to taxpayers who have applied to withdraw from their Savings Withdrawals Benefit.

Meanwhile, more than 1.2 million South Africans applied for the tax directive, with at least 1.14 million approved. The Revenue Service has noted that the remainder were “declined for a variety of reasons, including incorrect identity numbers and incorrect tax numbers, amongst others”.

SARS has therefore reminded taxpayers, who want to apply for a withdrawal to verify their tax numbers and identity numbers, and that they do not have any outstanding debt with the Revenue Sevices.

“After a registered taxpayer has applied, a successful tax directive informs the fund management how much tax to deduct from a withdrawal. Directive applications are accepted by SARS 24/7 and processed within an hour 365 days a year from 8am to 7pm. Unless a directive application is submitted outside of these hours, the response if the taxpayer is compliant be sent to the fund within an hour,”

SARS explained that taxpayers with outstanding debt will be deducted if a payment agreement is not in place.

“Before a final amount is paid to the applicant, the pension fund will be informed to also deduct any outstanding debt on behalf of SARS before any payout is made to the member.”

SARS raises concerns about tax evaders

SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter has warned that taxpayers, who intentionally understate their income, are dodging their obligation to the revenue service.

Kieswetter says SARS has already identified 213 654 taxpayers who have declared incorrect taxable income, intending to receive a more favourable 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,”

SARS digital services

The revenue service has encouraged taxpayers to use its digital services.

In a statement, SARS says in line with its intent for taxpayers to use digital channels, it is happy to announce that the simulated WhatsApp calculator was used 51 547 times since the 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. SARS has also received 53 519 queries through the voice channel, and 8 655 at branches.

“Taxpayers are encouraged to continue to use the digital channels, which are simple, easy and user-friendly. Using these channels means taxpayers do not have to leave their homes or places of employment to stand in queues,”