Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Despite much talk around hot topics like e-tolls and the national health insurance, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is unlikely to make any sweeping pronouncements on tax policy in his mini budget, according to Nazrien Kader, national taxation services leader at professional services firm Deloitte.
Said Kader: "The expectations that many South Africans have about tax announcements will probably not be realised by the minister who has, until now, concentrated on preparing the ground for the budget policy event by announcing titbits around various tax issues."
Topics like carbon tax, e-tolls, base erosion and profit shifting to counter tax avoidance through transfer pricing and international tax structuring, the youth wage subsidy, special economic zones, the NHI and mining tax have "elicited much debate, with no real certainty on how it will impact the average South African", said Kader.
Kader feels exchange controls could be the only area which could yield some movement, where Gordhan could use his mini budget speech to discuss possible scrapping of regulations "that are prohibitive when it comes to the free flow of capital”.
"There is no chance that exchange controls will be abolished, but it can be expected that following Mark Shuttleworth’s recent court victory, the state could make announcements regarding their intentions on reviewing South African Reserve Bank regulations that are considered 'unconstitutional'," said Kader.
Meanwhile, the SA Revenue Service on Monday announced that South Africans contributed R813.8bn in revenue last year - R71.2bn more than during the 2011/12 fiscal year.
The 2013 Tax Statistics publication, tabled by Sars and National Treasury this week, showed that 15.4 million individuals were registered as taxpayers, of whom 5 881 019 were liable to submit returns.
This reflected sturdy growth in the individual tax register. "The number of individuals registered for income tax as at March 31 [this year] increased by 1.7 million (12.5%), from 13.7 million in the previous year to 15.4m."
Company income tax made up 26.7% of revenue, at R160.9bn. There were 2.2 million registered companies, of which 742 448 were liable to submit returns.
Kader points out that these loyal taxpayers "will not take kindly to any tax hikes when everyday debate swirls around issues such as wasteful spending in the public sector, subdued economic growth projections and declining revenue projections with a rising tax to GDP ratio".
Said Kader: "Minister Gordhan needs to restore confidence – not just for South Africans but for those rating agencies that will pounce on any indication that our budget deficit will come in way off target."
Said Kader: "The expectations that many South Africans have about tax announcements will probably not be realised by the minister who has, until now, concentrated on preparing the ground for the budget policy event by announcing titbits around various tax issues."
Topics like carbon tax, e-tolls, base erosion and profit shifting to counter tax avoidance through transfer pricing and international tax structuring, the youth wage subsidy, special economic zones, the NHI and mining tax have "elicited much debate, with no real certainty on how it will impact the average South African", said Kader.
Kader feels exchange controls could be the only area which could yield some movement, where Gordhan could use his mini budget speech to discuss possible scrapping of regulations "that are prohibitive when it comes to the free flow of capital”.
"There is no chance that exchange controls will be abolished, but it can be expected that following Mark Shuttleworth’s recent court victory, the state could make announcements regarding their intentions on reviewing South African Reserve Bank regulations that are considered 'unconstitutional'," said Kader.
Meanwhile, the SA Revenue Service on Monday announced that South Africans contributed R813.8bn in revenue last year - R71.2bn more than during the 2011/12 fiscal year.
The 2013 Tax Statistics publication, tabled by Sars and National Treasury this week, showed that 15.4 million individuals were registered as taxpayers, of whom 5 881 019 were liable to submit returns.
This reflected sturdy growth in the individual tax register. "The number of individuals registered for income tax as at March 31 [this year] increased by 1.7 million (12.5%), from 13.7 million in the previous year to 15.4m."
Company income tax made up 26.7% of revenue, at R160.9bn. There were 2.2 million registered companies, of which 742 448 were liable to submit returns.
Kader points out that these loyal taxpayers "will not take kindly to any tax hikes when everyday debate swirls around issues such as wasteful spending in the public sector, subdued economic growth projections and declining revenue projections with a rising tax to GDP ratio".
Said Kader: "Minister Gordhan needs to restore confidence – not just for South Africans but for those rating agencies that will pounce on any indication that our budget deficit will come in way off target."
