Pretoria, 17 November 2016 – SARS employees will take part in the final leg of the Walk for Tax Thank You campaign in the heart of Soweto on Saturday, 19 November 2016.
Walk-for-Tax is a first for SARS and was initiated on 1 July this year as part of the tax season in an effort to connect with taxpayers. SARS employees have covered a combined walking distance of 100km around the country to create tax awareness in each of the nine provinces.
Commenting on the Tax Walks, Commissioner Tom Moyane said, “Walk-for-Tax meant that we get out of our offices to interact with taxpayers. Seeing SARS in the streets – represented by management and staff – is a powerful reminder to South Africans that the 14 500 SARS employees around the country are at their service and ready help South Africans meet their tax obligations,” said Moyane.
He added that “paying tax is the highest form of patriotism where individuals and companies make a direct contribution toward the improvement of quality of life for all the citizens of our country.”
The Soweto Walk for Tax marks the beginning of the countdown where non-provisional taxpayers have only 6 days left to file their tax returns. Tax Season 2016 will end next Friday (25 November) for non-provisional taxpayers, and SARS appeals to all those who have not yet submitted a return to do so as soon as possible.
The long queues that will start to build at SARS branches as well as the increased call volumes and therefore the extended holding time at the SARS Contact Centre will be unavoidable as the deadline approaches. SARS therefore urges you to submit your return as soon as possible.
SARS has processed over 4, 9 million tax returns since the start of Tax Season on 1 July 2016. Over 1 million returns were received in the first 21 days and the figure remained steadily high since the start of Tax Season. This is a welcomed development in compliance behaviour.
Importantly, selected branches across the country will be extending their operations on Saturday 19 September 2016 to assist taxpayers with submitting their income tax returns. During the week, all branches will extend their hours until 6pm.
SARS would like to express its appreciation for those taxpayers that have submitted their income tax returns.
