Cape Town - Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is expected to announce a number of tax increases when he delivers the 2017 Budget speech on Wednesday, February 22.
Although higher taxes on corporates and the super-rich may be popular ideas, they may be detrimental to the economy and raising value-added tax (VAT) may prove a much fairer and quicker way to increase revenue, said Tertius Troost, a tax consultant for Mazars.
According to Troost, VAT has remained unchanged for quite some time. “It is also widely known that South Africa’s VAT rate is low when compared to other African countries, which is why we believe there is scope to increase.”