Tabling the 2019 budget in Parliament on Wednesday, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said the decrease in tax collections was a combination of higher value-added tax refunds, lower collections for personal income tax and corporate tax, and administrative weaknesses at the embattled SA Revenue Service.

"Approximately half of the increase in the shortfall since October is due to higher than expected VAT refunds. This lowers revenue collection for the year, but puts money back into the economy," Mboweni told MPs as he tabled country's budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

The forecast for total tax collections in 2018/19 was R1.3 trillion, and according to the budget review, "the economy's performance continues to weigh heavily on tax revenues". 

African News Agency (ANA)