From our comprehensive budget infograpic - watch this space:
25 Feb 2015
PAC: We are disturbed by the fact that the grand announcements of extracting maximum
value for citizen taxes announced by the previous minister has not been tracked
on this budget speech.
25 Feb 2015
PAC:
We
observe Minister Nene's attempt to hide the extent of tax increase in his
budget speech through transfer of the state obligation to pay infrastructure
development to the citizen on various user pay schemes being introduced by
state departments.
25 Feb 2015
PAC: We firmly disagree with the underlying assumption of the national
budget as presented by Minister Nhlanhla Nene. The budget assumes that the
expenditure is optimal and further the budget prefers the increasing the user
pay scheme will increase tax revenue for the benefit of the country.
25 Feb 2015
Pan
Africanist Congress of Azania: The nation
received this budget speech without provided political context due to the empty
speech of President Jacob Zuma during the State of the Nation address.
25 Feb 2015
Food security a priority - Nene...
Food
security remains a top priority, with 1 000 farms set to benefit from a new
programme, says Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene.
KwaZulu-Natal
receives the largest budget of all the provinces in terms of equitable share,
according to Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene's 2015/16 budget tabled in the National Assembly.
From our live panel discussion:
Overall are
the lower and middle income earners benefiting from the change in personal tax
bands and tax rates? Not really. Add to this the 80.5 cents per litre increase
in fuel price, the increase in the electricity levy and the unavoidable accompanying
increase in cost of food – we will be paying more from next month – whether
rich or poor, we will all be contributing more to the Revenue coffers - Vedika
Andhee, Tax Director at EY.
25 Feb 2015
From our live panel discussion:
One big
thing that was not addressed was communication. Nene said nothing about the
SABC, which is sucking up money from the fiscus. We do not get the public
broadcaster we deserve - Ghalib Galant, Right to Know (R2K) provincial
coordinator for the Western Cape.
25 Feb 2015
From our live panel discussion: We as
ordinary South Africans should make sure we hold our leaders accountable when
they address us. We have elected them into those positions in order to serve
the people of South Africa - Ghalib Galant, Right to Know (R2K) provincial
coordinator for the Western Cape.
25 Feb 2015
From our live panel discussion: South
Africans have the memories of chickens - we do not go back to these people and
keep them accountable - Solly Moeng, brand reputation specialist
25 Feb 2015
From our live panel discussion: One of the
things that stood out for me in the speech was potentially just how out of
touch our leaders are with what people on the street experience, for instance
they joked about the increase in a bottle of whisky! - Ghalib Galant, Right to
Know (R2K) provincial coordinator for the Western Cape.
25 Feb 2015
Solly Moeng: All budget
speeches should start with what was promised the previous year and what has
indeed been delivered.
Solly Moeng,
brand reputation specialist: Government
needs to send more positive, confidence creating messages. Government is asking
us to tight our belts, but we do not see government doing it.
25 Feb 2015
Ghalib Galant, Right to Know (R2K) provincial coordinator for the
Western Cape: The big
question is what are we getting in return, particularly at local government
level. I am not so sure we are seeing the kind of trickle down we would have
wanted
25 Feb 2015
Tune in to
watch the final segment of our live expert panel discussion on Budget 2015
where we assess the importance and impact of the budget speech on you.
Jonathan Dixon: The financial regulation in South Africa needs to embed a forward-looking,
pre-emptive and proactive approach to risk, with a strategic focus on
demonstrating delivery of the right outcomes. Twin Peaks will give effect to
these goals by moving away from an industry-silo approach towards one that
embraces a functional approach to the
supervision of the financial soundness of banks, insurers and financial
conglomerates, which will ultimately lead to better policyholder protection.
25 Feb 2015
Jonathan
Dixon, Deputy Executive Officer for Insurance at the
Financial Services Board: The objective of Twin Peaks is to both protect consumers of financial services and promote
confidence in the South African financial system.
25 Feb 2015
Lianne Williams, Head of Marketing at Multiply: A pack of
20 cigarettes will now cost around R36.62, an effective R13 366.30 per year for
someone who smokes one box a day. For someone who smokes 40 a day, that amount
soars to over R25 000.00.
25 Feb 2015
Kobus Engelbrecht, Sanlam Business Partners and Entrepreneurship: Government
should create an environment in which businesses can create jobs. It is not
government's job to create jobs. Should we sit with a dwindling amount of
money, or should be create a big environment where we have more to spend. One
does not save your business out of trouble, you grow yourself out of trouble.
E-toll
tariffs will be adjusted downwards but government remains committed to the
principle of road users funding improvements to keep Sanral solvent, the
National Treasury said.
The
proposed 80.5c/litre increase in the fuel price levies from April 1, combined
with the expected 90c/litre price increase in March, is concerning, Absa says.
Kobus Engelbrecht, Sanlam
Business Partners and Entrepreneurship: It is hard
to start a business in SA. I see nothing in this budget that will enable or
encourage a young person to start a business.
Terry Bell:
Job
opportunities is a total waste. They employ people for 3 to 6 months and they
earn barely enough to feed their families. Yet these count in the statistics.
Terry Bell,
Inside Labour columnist: There were
no details about what the small business proposals really mean. It was a mere
tinkering. For instance, what is a full time equivalent job?
25 Feb 2015
Kobus Engelbrecht, Sanlam Business Partners and
Entrepreneurship: What
business needs is good infrastructure, a well run government and no corruption.
The million dollar question about Nene's proposals for business would be if it
can be implemented.
In 2011,
government introduced a special incentive in the form of a tax credit for
withholding taxes imposed on South African tax residents by foreign countries
in respect of services rendered in South Africa to clients who are residents in
foreign countries.
Keith Engel,
deputy CEO of SAIT: The test
for the credibility of this budget will come in future when one will have to
see if the government can stick to its proposed expenditure.
Keith
Engel, deputy CEO of SAIT (South African Institute of Tax Practitioners): They are
trying to show that everyone - rich and poor - are sharing the burden.
Keith Engel, deputy CEO of SAIT (South African Institute of Tax Practitioners): The moves
in tax suggest it is as far as one needs to go. The challenge is credibility.
Keith
Engel, deputy CEO of SAIT (South African Institute of Tax Practitioners): Minister
Nene tried in his budget to take a bad thing and make it look good.
Over the
next three years, after providing for debt-service costs and the contingency
reserve, 47.9% of nationally raised funds will be allocated to national
government, 43.1% to provincial government and 9% to local government.
Russel Smith, tax director at Ernst & Young: I think
Minister Nene did a good job. The fact that he was not more aggresive with tax
increases can be welcomed.