Swazi Observer

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SRA 1ST QUARTER COLLECTIONS E890 MILLION SHORT

By THEMBEKA DLAMINI | 2018-07-22

Is the country’s weak economy being felt by the tax man or could it be that reduced collections are resulting in the weakened economy?

For the last few months, government has experienced a cash flow constraint which has seen it unable to meet its financial obligations such as payment of debts.

As such, the transfer of money from the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) to government every Monday has been the determinant on how much goes to suppliers and contractors with some being given letters of assurance that they will be paid at a later stage which they can use in their respective banks to get loans.

The tax man, who, during the peak of a strike which took place during the third quarter of the 2017/2018 financial year, boasted collections of over E1billion during the month of December, has allegedly been unable to meet target for the first three months of the 2018/2019 financial year resulting in the shortfall.

This is according to well-placed sources who revealed that the state of affairs has deteriorated to the extent that the shortfall is nearly 90 per cent of the target which was revealed in January in the memo congratulating non-striking employees of collecting beyond expectation of E1.0231 billion after collections stood at E1.0926 billion.

Targets for the first quarter months could not be ascertained as the authority, which was sent a questionnaire, requested that some parts of it be responded to in the coming week as those questions impacted on the welfare of employees and would best be answered as they week progressed.

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