100 people responsible for 75% of all tax in South Africa
Economist Dawie Roodt said that 100 financial directors at major corporations are responsible for collecting and transferring 70% to 80% of all state tax revenue.
He shared this information during an interview with Erns Roets at Kragdag, where they discussed South Africa’s tax system.
The National Treasury’s 2026 Budget Review showed that South Africa has a narrow tax base of 8.3 million income taxpayers.
These are people who earn over R99,000 per year and who pay personal income tax. Simply put, they are the cornerstone of the country’s tax base.
What is particularly concerning is that around 1 million income taxpayers account for 62% of all personal income tax.
On the other side of the spectrum, South Africa has 26.5 million social grant beneficiaries funded through tax revenue.
Spending on social development will increase from R412.2 billion in 2025/26 to R466.4 billion in 2028/29.
Social grants constitute the largest share. Excluding the social relief of the distress grant, spending will increase from R246.6 billion in 2025/26 to R276.5 billion in 2028/29.
This highly distributed fiscal system has raised concerns among many economists that it is not sustainable, as the tax base is too narrow.
He explained that personal income tax (PIT), levied on individual income, salaries, and wages, accounts for 40% of the government’s tax income.
645,000 people pay 50% of all personal income tax. These are the same people who run companies and generate profit, which leads to corporate taxes.
Put differently, approximately 1% of people in South Africa pay 50% of personal income tax and are behind nearly all corporate income tax.
It gets worse. “There are roughly 100 people in this country who are effectively responsible for paying about 70% to 80% of all tax revenue,” Roodt said.
These are financial directors of major corporations who compile all corporate income tax, collect all VAT, and deduct all personal income tax (PAYE) from employees.
“There are about 100 individuals who are truly responsible for physically transferring nearly all state tax revenue to the Minister of Finance.”
Personal income tax in South Africa
The table below shows the number of South Africans and their taxable income in the current financial year.
| Annual income (R thousand) | Number of people | Tax (R billion) | Percentage |
| R99 – R150 | 2,082,136 | 14.5 | 1.7% |
| R150 – R250 | 1,490,061 | 21.2 | 2.5% |
| R250 – R350 | 1,182,539 | 43.6 | 5.2% |
| R350 – R500 | 1,378,140 | 96.6 | 11.4% |
| R500 – R750 | 1,136,023 | 149.1 | 17.7% |
| R750 – R1,000 | 423,786 | 97.9 | 11.6% |
| R1,000 – R1,500 | 377,415 | 139.3 | 16.5% |
| R1,500 + | 267,761 | 282.6 | 33.4% |
| Total | 8,337,861 | 844.8 | 100% |
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