Municipal revenue collection function: A comparative study on the efficiency and effectiveness of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and the South African Revenue Service

Abstract

Municipalities have the responsibility to deliver services to the communities in a fast and efficient manner, and to deliver these services there is a need for financial resources and institutional capacity. The challenge that beset the municipalities is that they struggle to collect revenue. There is a gap between available financial resources and the municipal expenditure needs largely as a result of the revenue collection challenges facing the municipalities. The revenue collection challenge therefore, needs to be adequately addressed for the municipalities to be successful. Municipalities have the right to finance their affairs through charging fees for services; imposing surcharges on fees, rates, levies and duties. The municipal council have the responsibility to implement and adopt tariff policies. These tariff policies must espouse the principles that ensure the equitable treatment of municipal service users. Tariff policies must also ensure that the amount paid by individual users for services is proportionate to their usage. Municipalities should, in terms of law, differentiate between the different categories of ratepayers, users of services, debtors, taxes, services and service standard. This study was based on the combination of both qualitative and quantitative research design. It followed a case study approach of comparative investigation between the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality revenue collection and South African Revenue Service. The quantitative research was done through the administration of questionnaires to the ratepayers, corporate taxpayers and tax practitioners. This was complemented by the qualitative in-depth interview questionnaires administered to both South African Revenue Service and the Tshwane Metropolitan municipality to ensure that the data collected are both collaborated and diverse to enable the researcher to draw a balanced conclusion. In the light of the above, this study therefore investigated the strategies and legislative framework that is employed by the municipalities and contrasted with those that are used by the South African Revenue Service, with the aim of taking possible learnings that can be applied in the municipalities. The study concluded by proposing guidelines that can be used by municipalities in revenue collection.