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Representational image of tax.
A survey of nearly 500 taxpayers surveyed by the National Treasury released on 3 September shows that many individual taxpayers did not claim the solar panel tax because they were not aware of it.
Last week, the National Treasury published the results of their Renewable Tax Incentives Survey Report which collected input from a broad range of taxpayers to assess their experiences with and views on the renewable energy tax incentives. A survey of 462 taxpayers evaluated their opinions on tax incentives for renewable energy.
In 2023, National Treasury set aside R4 billion in tax refunds to incentivise individual taxpayers to install rooftop solar panels from 1 March 2023 to 29 February 2024. The National Treasury’s survey shows that many people did not claim the tax refund because they lacked awareness of it.
“Most respondents did not claim largely due to lack of awareness about the incentive,” National Treasury stated in their report. “It is recognised that there is potential to improve public awareness and engagement in the future.”
According to National Treasury, individual taxpayers who installed new solar panels between March 2024 and February 2025 qualified for a refund to the value of 25% of the cost of new and unused solar panels at a maximum of R15 000 per individual.
Barriers to claim
The National Treasury’s survey report lists installations that came too late or too soon for the March 2023 – February 2024 period among the biggest reasons taxpayers did not claim their solar panel tax incentives.
“Respondents that did not claim felt that high upfront costs, prior investment, time constraints, and lack of awareness are some of the challenges and limitations of the current incentive design,” National Treasury said.
National Treasury warned, in their report, that their survey is limited because of the small sample size of 462 taxpayers and promised a more comprehensive report once the South African Revenue Services releases their own data in order to inform future tax policies.
