Gordhan picks out SARS for missing targets

Beleaguered Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan had to walk a tight political line in delivering his 2017 Budget yesterday, and in focusing on the poor and economic transformation he may have succeeded in muzzling his staunchest critics inside the ANC, notes Legalbrief. However, his well-documented difficulties with SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane would not have been improved when he raised the alarm over the performance of the revenue service, which fell about R30.4bn short of the target for 2016-17 set out in the previous budget. The R30.4bn revenue shortfall is the largest since the 2009 recession and means that tax increases of R28bn are required for the coming year, says a Business Day report. The Treasury has also flagged ‘heightened uncertainty regarding the path of revenue collection’ as a major risk for public finances over the medium term, with Gordhan noting he had embarked on an intense set of engagements with senior management at SARS in the past month over his concerns. The revenue-collection shortfall could not be attributed solely to the sluggish state of the economy and was also due to ‘challenges’ within the tax authority, Gordhan reportedly said in an interview after a media briefing ahead of his Budget speech in the National Assembly. ‘We hope this will lead to some constructive outcomes in the interests of the country. Yes, I am concerned about the shape of revenue collection and that’s why the engagements,’ he said. The report points out that Moyane, unlike previous commissioners, did not appear with Gordhan at the media briefing alongside Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas, Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago and Treasury DG Lungisa Fuzile.