Money in · Gauteng
Where does the metro’s money come from?
90.2%
of what it billed residents and businesses was collected in 2020-21. Treasury’s norm is 95%.
Official: National Treasury, Municipal Money · Data as of 2024-25 financial year (audited) · Last updated
Compare all eight metros: Money in. An asterisk marks a figure our automated checks found inconsistent with another official figure; it is shown as reported, explained in a footnote and left out of rankings.
Metros do not get income tax or VAT. Those go to national government.
A metro’s own money comes from property rates (a tax on property value) and from selling services: electricity, water, sanitation and refuse removal. On top of that, national government sends grants, mostly for building infrastructure and for free basic services to poor households.
So a metro’s finances depend heavily on one thing: collecting what it bills.
Official: National Treasury · Data as of 2024-25 financial year (audited) · Last updated
Treasury norm: 95%
Share of the rates and service charges billed in the year that was actually collected.
Source: National Treasury, Municipal Money; calculated with the Circular 71 formula.
Official: National Treasury, Section 71 (unaudited) · Data as of 30 June 2026 (2025-26, 12 of 12 months, unaudited) · Next update expected November 2026 (Treasury’s next quarterly Section 71 release)
111%
of the revenue it budgeted for: Johannesburg brought in R93.80bn of R84.85bn in the full year (preliminary) of 2025-26, as it reported to Treasury. Residents, businesses and government owed it R76.66bn at 30 June 2026.
Unaudited: what each metro reported to National Treasury for the full year (preliminary) of 2025-26, to 30 June 2026. The audited years stay the reference; these figures are not used in headlines. Source: Treasury’s summary of metros workbook (all files).
Official: National Treasury, Municipal Money (audited) · Data as of 2024-25 financial year (audited) · Last updated
2024-25
Not yet published (no audited figures in Treasury’s dataset).
2023-24 R71.19bn · R12 301 per resident
Electricity sales 26% · Property rates 24% · Water sales 13%
2022-23 R60.65bn*
Left out: this year’s return failed our checks (see note below).
2021-22 R60.65bn · R10 861 per resident
Electricity sales 28% · Property rates 22% · Operating grants 18%
2020-21 R66.09bn · R12 036 per resident
Electricity sales 25% · Operating grants 23% · Property rates 20%
* Johannesburg 2022-23: as reported to National Treasury. This figure is inconsistent with the year before (every revenue line is identical to 2021-22, which suggests a copied return) and may be a reporting error.
Operating revenue, not counting grants for building infrastructure. Per resident uses Stats SA’s mid-year population estimates. Source: National Treasury, Municipal Money, income and expenditure (audited actuals).
Official: National Treasury, Municipal Money (unaudited monthly returns) · Data as of Mar 2026 (unaudited monthly returns) · Updates: Treasury adds months quarterly · Last updated
R73.92bn
owed to Johannesburg by residents, businesses and government at the end of Mar 2026; 90% of it was more than 90 days old.
Households R50.80bn · businesses R20.48bn · government R2.64bn · other R0. Source query.
Official: National Treasury, Municipal Money (unaudited monthly returns) · Data as of Mar 2026 (unaudited monthly returns) · Updates: Treasury adds months quarterly
R8.99bn
owed by Johannesburg to its suppliers at the end of Mar 2026; 28% of it was more than 90 days old.
Official: SARS and National Treasury · Data as of tax year 2024 (provisional) · Updates: SARS and Treasury publish once a year · Last updated
Metros do not receive income tax or VAT. Income tax goes to national government. Part of national revenue flows back to municipalities as grants: the equitable share and grants for set purposes. A metro’s own money comes from property rates and charges for electricity, water, sanitation and refuse.
The figures below put three things side by side for Johannesburg. They cover different periods: a tax year runs from 1 March to the end of February; a municipal year runs from 1 July to 30 June. The periods overlap but are not the same.
Johannesburg
970 892 assessed taxpayers · average taxable income R480 318
Income tax: tax year 2024 (1 Mar 2023 to 29 Feb 2024); provisional: The latest tax year in each edition is incomplete: it holds only the assessments finished when SARS extracted the data, and the next edition revises it upwards. We use each tax year from the newest edition that has it. Metro figures: municipal year 2023-24 (1 Jul 2023 to 30 Jun 2024), audited. Own revenue is property rates plus charges for electricity, water, sanitation and refuse. Transfers received are operating and capital transfers from national and provincial government, as recognised in the audited statements. Per resident uses Stats SA’s mid-year population estimate for 2024.
| Tax year | Taxpayers | Taxable income | Tax assessed | Average taxable income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 (provisional) | 970 892 | R466.34bn | R119.50bn | R480 318 |
| 2023 | 915 311 | R432.08bn | R111.97bn | R472 057 |
| 2022 | 828 745 | R380.49bn | R99.57bn | R459 114 |
| 2021 | 795 850 | R343.76bn | R88.85bn | R431 938 |
| 2020 | 751 180 | R350.97bn | R94.08bn | R467 224 |
| 2019 | 666 460 | R323.82bn | R87.16bn | R485 878 |
| 2018 | 689 184 | R313.67bn | R82.50bn | R455 131 |
| 2017 | 705 302 | R306.49bn | R78.17bn | R434 549 |
| 2016 | 689 020 | R283.27bn | R71.21bn | R411 126 |
Each tax year is from the newest edition that has it (link on the year). Tax year 2024 is 1 Mar 2023 to 29 Feb 2024, and so on.
| Municipal year | Own revenue | Transfers received |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | Not yet published | Not yet published |
| 2023-24 | R54.30bn | R10.68bn |
| 2022-23 | Failed our checks* | Not yet published |
| 2021-22 | R46.75bn | R12.53bn |
| 2020-21 | R45.16bn | R17.56bn |
Sources: SARS and National Treasury, Tax Statistics, Chapter 2 Personal Income Tax, tables A2.10.1 to A2.10.9 (assessed individual taxpayers, by the residential address declared on their tax returns); National Treasury, Municipal Money, income and expenditure (audited). Not published by ward.
