Tag: Value Added Tax (VAT)

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) increases customs duties for online retail orders as part of a broader strategy to promote local businesses and address global supply chain imbalances. The clothing and textile industry has faced widescale criticism for controversial environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. South African consumers may imagine themselves to be far from the hub of these issues. However, we are all participants in the global supply and demand for fashion.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has marginally improved refund payment time frames, but it needs to prioritise improving service delivery and building trust with taxpayers. In his recently delivered Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced a tax revenue shortfall of R22.3 billion.

Twenty-one African countries have already enacted rules for non-resident suppliers to account for Value-Added Tax (VAT) / Goods and Sales Tax on electronically supplied services. The digital economy is more than just technology and the internet.

Tax season inevitably means digging out all those airline boarding passes, fuel slips and receipts from your travels over the past year. As a frequent business traveller, you've likely accumulated quite the collection in hopes of a decent refund on allowable expenses. However, the taxman wants more than a shoebox stuffed with crumpled receipts.

While the African banking market has seen withdrawal of global banks over the last 5 years, the opportunity for localised banking has seen the opposite, driven by the expansion of African banking groups into the continent, led mostly by South African, West African, and Northern African banks.

The shortcomings of the Value Added Tax (VAT) apportionment formula set out in 2011, have been addressed in a new formula which applies with effect from all financial years commencing on or after 1 January 2024. We highlight important adjustments to the formula which is laid out new Binding General ruling, BGR 16 (Issue 3).

Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana delivered his Budget Speech 2024 to Parliament and the nation on 21 February 2024. A key announcement was that tax rates will not be increased in 2024/2025, as previously signalled by the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) 2023, to generate the extra R15 billion needed in revenue.

With the budget speech being delivered in an election year, I expect to hear populist promises and over-optimism which is geared more to voters than the financial markets. We will need to scrutinise the numbers coming out of the budget very carefully to see if Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget proposals are viable and achievable given the country’s high debt burden and strained tax base.

The South African taxi industry, a cornerstone of the nation's transport landscape, has long been under scrutiny for its apparent underpayment of taxes. However, a closer examination reveals a more complex reality. In 2021, the industry paid only R5 million in annual Corporate Income Tax (CIT). This is a small amount compared to the industry’s estimated annual revenue of R90 billion.

The National Budget delivered by South Africa’s Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, showed that government is making some significant financial commitments to restore Eskom to viability and maintain social grants. But with GDP growth projected at 1.4% on average from 2023 to 2025, and a potential tapering-off of the commodities boom over the medium term, how will government fund these commitments?