SARS Releases 2025/26 Annual Report

Posted 22 October 2026 Written by Acts Online
Category Tax

Brought to you by SA Accounting Academy: The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has released its official Annual Report for the 2025/2026 reporting period, outlining its financial performance, revenue collections, and strategic enforcement yields.

In terms of section 55 of the Public Finance Management Act, No. 1 of 1999, read alongside the South African Revenue Service Act, No. 34 of 1997, the revenue authority tabled its comprehensive account of operational performance and audited financial results for the 2025/26 financial year.

SARS reported a total net revenue collection of R2 010.3 billion for the period ending March 2026. This reflects an 8.4% growth compared to the R1 855.3 billion collected during the preceding 2024/25 fiscal period.

Compliance Programme and Enforcement Performance

Revenue collected through targeted compliance interventions formed a key component of the overall yield:

  • Total compliance revenue: The SARS compliance programme contributed R319.2 billion to total collections by the end of March 2026.
  • Year-on-year growth: This marks an increase of R15.2 billion (a 5% expansion) compared to the R304.0 billion recorded in the previous financial year.
  • Enforcement focus: Heightened yields reflect continued administrative expansion of third-party data matching, automated assessments, and targeted audit investigations across individual and corporate tax segments.

Click here to download the SARS 2025/26 Annual Report (SARS-AR-31) or view related governance materials on the SARS Strategic Plans Portal.

What this means for you, your business, or your clients

  • For yourself: Tax practitioners must anticipate increased scrutiny from automated audit profiling and ensure professional working papers, source documentation, and statutory reconciliations are fully substantiated before filing.
  • For your business: Operating firms must maintain rigorous tax risk management controls and reconcile VAT, PAYE, and corporate provisional tax declarations strictly against third-party reporting feeds to prevent automated administrative penalties.
  • For your clients: Taxpayers facing unresolved tax debts, non-filing flags, or high-risk discrepancy notices face an expanding compliance programme yielding R319.2 billion; voluntary disclosure applications or formal administrative disputes must be lodged strictly within statutory deadlines.

Originally published at https://accountingacademy.co.za/news/read/sars-2025-26-annual-report

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