Tag: tax revenue

South Africa continues to produce skilled professionals equipped with the means to drive the South African economy. However, in the older age groups, the number of graduate professionals committed to a career in South Africa is diminishing.

South African legislators are seeking to regulate e-cigarette and vaping products through the draft Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, as well as new taxation laws. The National Department of Health has started to amend current tobacco legislation through the draft Bill, while taxation will be levied on nicotine and non-nicotine solutions with a 40% incidence guideline.

The 2022 Budget was tabled to Parliament on 23 February 2022 by South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

September is Heritage Month in South Africa. As a diverse but also divided society, building a shared view of our heritage is very much a work in process. Nonetheless, all South Africans have an interest in sharing in a more prosperous economy with more jobs and less poverty.

Cryptocurrency has heralded a new dawn of investment, and regulators worldwide have been sluggish to respond. However, it is now firmly on the tax radar for revenue authorities globally; and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) position seems to be no different.

Last year’s Budget Speech was delivered in front of a full house in the National Assembly. Politicians, journalists and special guests mingled before and after the speech. There were hugs, handshakes and back slaps aplenty. Next week’s version takes place in a world that has completely changed.

Over the course of lockdown, pundits have shared some harrowing statistics regarding the increase in unemployment in South Africa. In general, our unemployment rates are moving in the wrong direction and the affected households have suffered great hardship as a result, but it is important to understand what this means for our tax base and our growing budget deficit.

National Treasury and SARS published their responses on the Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (TLAB), which included potential relief for South African expatriates who were unable to leave South Africa owing to the COVID-19 lockdown.

The captain of Ship SA, President Cyril Ramaphosa, can surely see the iceberg that we are heading for and one can almost hear the call go out for us to 'brace for impact'. The iceberg is an economy that is in crisis – an unemployment rate of 42% (using the expanded definition), GDP growth projections down by 7.8%, tax revenue projections at R304 billion less than originally budgeted for, a budget deficit of R709 billion for 2020/21, a current debt to GPD level of 81.8% and debt service costs (interest) currently amounting to 21c in every tax Rand collected.

Sometimes the focus should not be on what was said, but rather on what was left unsaid. The Supplementary Budget tabled by Minister Tito Mboweni on 24 June 2020, centred around the potentially disastrous trajectory of South Africa’s fiscal affairs.