The tax to GDP ratio in South Africa has remained unchanged at 24.5% from 2009/10 to 2010/11. The ratio has been decreasing over the last several years from a 27.6% high in 2007/08, before the recent global financial crisis. (SARS Annual Report 2010 – 2011)

This week’s theme: Taxes in South Africa

The maximum marginal income tax rate for individuals in South Africa is 40%. In Denmark it is 55.4%, and in Sweden 57%. In the United Arab Emirates, Andorra and Brunei there is no income tax for individuals. (http://bit.ly/zumRVE)

This week’s theme: Taxes in South Africa

SARS collected R674.2 billion in tax revenue in 2010/11. Tax revenue has increased at an average of 11.8% year on year since the 1995 financial year. (South African Revenue Service, http://bit.ly/zqYl9F)

This week’s theme: Taxes in South Africa

According to the AA, driving from Pretoria to Komatipoort will cost 39c a km (432km) in toll fees while driving from Johannesburg to Cape Town will cost 9c a km (1375km) in toll fees. (http://bit.ly/zTOymW)

This week’s theme: Taxes in South Africa

South Africa is home to the world’s largest individually timed cycle race (the Cape Argus Cycle Race), the world’s largest open water swim (the Midmar Mile) and the world’s largest ultra-marathon (the Comrades Marathon). (http://bit.ly/xC5MUB)

This week’s theme: A Miscellany of South African Facts

The International Polar Foundation (IPF) recently announced that Cape Town is to get the first-of-its-kind Polaris Climate Change Observatory (PCCO). Construction will be completed towards the end of 2014. (http://bit.ly/Ahh49o)

This week’s theme: A Miscellany of South African Facts

According to the Economist in the 4th quarter of 2011 over 5 million tweets were sent in South Africa, making it the top African twitter user. This was followed by Kenya with 2.5 million tweets and Nigeria with 1.6 million tweets. (http://econ.st/w0PYqN)

This week’s theme: A Miscellany of South African Facts

According to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) as at May 2011, 51% or 7.7 million beneficiaries receive their funds in cash. (http://bit.ly/zJoOUI)

This week’s theme: A Miscellany of South African Facts

Recent figures from Vodacomshow that there are nearly seven times more BlackBerry devices on their network (around 2 million) than iPhones (around 300,000) andAndroid smartphones (around 300,000). (http://bit.ly/zYw7MN)

This week’s theme: A Miscellany of South African Facts

South Africa is rated 127th out of 142 countries with regards to the quality of primary education. (Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12)

This week’s theme: SA vs. the rest