SARS says R35bn withdrawals have been made in Two-Pot retirement system

THE South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that withdrawals from Two-Pot retirement system have increased to more than R35 billion from more than more than 1.9 million applications.

The SARS on Tuesday updated the total figures for tax directives received concerning withdrawals from the Savings Withdrawal Benefit under the Two-Pot system.

Of the 2,153,942 applications received, SARS issued a total of 1,914,306 directives, amounting to a cumulative gross value of R35,052,572,876.62.

However, the disparity between applications and directives issued highlights several issues; with 169,509 applications declined for a myriad of reasons, ranging from systems failures from the fund management entities to wrong identification number, wrong tax number etc.

At least 41,523 directives were declined because of insufficient funds, wrong codes etc, while 28,525 directives were cancelled by taxpayers who changed their minds.

SARS said it remained committed as per the principles and values embodied in our strategic objectives, which is to provide taxpayers with clarity and certainty on their tax matters and to make it easy and seamless for them to comply.

It said the work that has been accomplished so far was in large measure because of good cooperation with retirement fund management entities.

“SARS wishes to thank these institutions who play a critical role in the tax ecosystem for their professionalism that has allowed SARS to play its part in efficiently and speedily issuing required tax directives,” it said.

SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter cautioned taxpayers to avoid any actions that could constitute criminality and emphasized the importance of using the correct identity and tax numbers when applying for this benefit. SARS encourages voluntary compliance and, in this regard, offers a range of communication options on the SARS website to achieve this objective.

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