The South African government late on Sunday announced it collected more than 742 billion rands (about 98 billion U.S. dollars) tax revenue in 2011-2012 fiscal year. The tax revenue collected by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has exceeded its target by four billion rands for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, over 68 billion rands more than the previous fiscal year, said Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in the administrative capital Pretoria. The tax revenue increase in the fiscal year was driven by the strong performances of import taxes, recovery of the corporate profits and resilient consumption, the South African official Bua News Agency reported on Sunday. Gordhan said the three main tax revenue contributors in the fiscal year were personal income tax, corporate income tax (CIT) and value-added tax (VAT). The personal income tax increased to more than 251 billion rands in the fiscal year from over 228 billion rands in the previous fiscal year, while corporate tax rose to 153 billion rands from 134 billion rands in FY 2010-2011, said the minister, according to Xinhua. The minister added the CIT remained below the peak of 165 billion rands in FY 2008-2009 due to the impact by the western countries' economic crisis, though it grew by 14.2 percent year on year. The CIT growth benefited from the strong imports in the auto sector, and the increased investments in capital intensive sectors, including energy, manufacturing and agriculture, according to Gordhan. The tax revenue in agriculture, mining and telecommunications was over 34 billion rands, compared to more than 40 billion rands in banks, insurance and other financial services. The fiscal year saw more than 34 billion rands contributed to the tax income by the manufacturing and petroleum sector. The mining, finance, wholesale and retail sectors showed robust growth as the economy recovered modestly, the SARS said in its report. The vast majority of the South Africans pay tax, and they contribute to the country by paying VAT, excise duties and the levy on the goods and services they consume, said the minister. Over the past three years, the overall tax revenue grew by more than 4.5 percent in South Africa. The economy grew by 3.1 percent in the fiscal year of 2011-2012, and it is withstanding new challenges in an uncertain global environment in the new fiscal year, said the minister.
