South Africa's Revenue Service Urges Crypto Asset Market Participants to Register

South Africa's revenue service urges those involved in crypto asset transactions to register with the authority, as it seeks to rein in tax defaulters.

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) is urging those who trade in crypto assets to register with the tax authority, as it steps up efforts to collect taxes from new income streams and clamp down on defaulters.

“We’ve invited taxpayers, exchanges and other intermediaries to register, because now, if you don’t register, you’re breaking the law,” Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter told Bloomberg in an interview on Tuesday.

“Once they have registered, now we have knowledge of their existence, and we can now begin to track their business activities.”

Kieswetter identified crypto assets as one area where Sars could increase revenues as he announced preliminary data showing tax collections beat Treasury estimates by almost R9 billion, coming in at R1.855 trillion in the year through March 2025.

Those نباشي in crypto assets are advised to contact Sars directly for guidance on how to register.

Nearly 6 million South Africans hold a crypto asset, with southern Africa having the largest uptake of the Bitcoin token in the world, according to Sars data.

In 2022, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority estimated that about R520 million a month was traded through South African crypto asset service providers and the regulator declared it a financial product.

But Sars is still struggling to identify those who deal in crypto assets so that it can begin to collect taxes on their income and capital gains.

Sars is also planning to introduce a new administrative penalty for late payment of taxes, which could help to deter taxpayers from delaying their tax obligations.

The agency is also focused on improving its internal processes and systems in order to become more efficient and effective in collecting taxes.

This will be a key priority for Sars in the year ahead, as the agency faces increasing pressure to collect more taxes from a shrinking tax base.