11 September 2024 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has received a total 161,607 tax directive applications. This includes the directives which have been cancelled. 159, 853 relates to Savings Withdrawal Benefits, which is 98.9% of the total number of applications received from Sunday 1 to 10 September 2024, which means SARS received an average of 17,964 tax directive applications a day.
Gross amount of the lumpsums for the applications received totals R4.1 billion.
SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said contributions made to a pension or retirement fund were not taxed at the time of payment to the fund but deferred to the time the person retires and then taxed at a reduced rate. However, when an individual withdraws now, they will be taxed at their marginal tax rate.
