Taxpayers flock to e-filing

By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

Cape Town, 31 Oct 2007

More than 600 000 taxpayers, representing about 20% of the total, have used the SA Revenue Services' (SARS) e-filing system, says SARS commissioner Pravin Gordhan.

He was speaking to ITWeb late yesterday after a function in Parliament marking SARS' 10 years of existence.

Gordhan said about 40% of R495.5 billion in taxes of various types that had been collected was through the various electronic formats offered by the revenue service.

This includes pay-as-you-earn, value-added tax and various forms of corporate taxes.

"We do see the time when about 80% of our revenue is collected through electronic formats; however, we cannot say exactly when this will happen."

This is the first time SARS has allowed taxpayers to directly enter their returns in an electronic format via a Web site.

According to Gordhan, of the 600 000 registered taxpayers using the e-filing system, about 200 000 were individuals who were doing the registration and filing themselves, while the rest were having this work completed by registered tax practitioners.

Barry Hore, SARS' senior GM for strategy modernisation and technology, says the e-filing site is getting "literally millions of hits per day".

"There is a lot of pressure on the site at the moment, because a lot of people believe that filing had to be completed by 31 October. However, those using the e-filing system have until 31 January to register and file," he says.