South Africa’s government makes R85 billion from businesses it does not tax directly

• The South African government is directly profiting off of the country’s spaza shop industry, adding billions to the fiscus every year through unrefunded taxes.
• South Africa’s spaza shop industry is estimated to generate over R200 billion a year in turnover, accounting for around 20% of the country’s broader R1 trillion informal economy.
• The South African government is looking to widen its tax base, which is currently highly concentrated, with a small number of individuals and businesses contributing the majority of tax revenue.