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According to  Fin24, "SARS has already paid over R62.1bn in refunds to taxpayers by October 2, it said in a media release on Tuesday".

"The bulk of the refunds - R49.8bn - were VAT refunds, and the rest  - R12.3bn - personal income tax refunds.

SARS said that, by Monday, more than 2.7 million taxpayers had submitted their tax returns since tax season opened in July. This was an increase of 3.6% compared to the same period last year.

Most taxpayers still stood in queues to file their papers. 

While 49.28% of taxpayers used the online efiling, 50.9% filed at branches countrywide. SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane said in a statement that efiling was the quickest and easiest method to use.

In addition "last week SARS said it would intensify criminal proceedings against tax offenders from October.

The reason for the intended clampdown was an "increase in taxpayers not submitting their tax returns by the stipulated deadlines", and not settling their outstanding debt with the revenue collection agency, SARS said in a statement.

This was not limited to the current tax year, but included substantial non-compliance across previous tax years".

Reference : www.fin24.com/Economy/sars-coughs-up-more-than-r621bn-in-refunds-20171003