GNU secures first Budget as NCOP passes Appropriation Bill
Government departments can now implement their spending plans for services, infrastructure, and social programmes.
Parliament
RAF board may ditch costly court fight over accounting standards
The Road Accident Fund board is taking steps to address deep-rooted governance and financial issues – from executive suspensions to tightening legal oversight – but Parliament is questioning whether it’s too little, too late.
Fuel levy rises despite court challenge, but price drop cushions blow for motorists
The fuel levy hike remains in force, but a broader court challenge over the finance minister’s power to increase taxes continues.
‘A train wreck’: SCOPA chair tears into RAF board over vacancies and fiscal chaos
Committee chairperson Songezo Zibi slams the Road Accident Fund’s leadership for dysfunction, defying court rulings, and turning oversight into a ‘mockery’.
Constitutionality of the minister’s power to amend tax rates remains untested
UCT tax lecturer Ben Cronin argues that by allowing the minister to amend the income tax rates by announcement in the Budget, Parliament has overstepped its competence, eroding the doctrine that places legislative authority firmly in its hands.
Tight-lipped Treasury braces for tough Budget to plug R75bn shortfall
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana won’t reveal where the spending cuts or savings will come from but says South Africa must “do more with less”.
Coalition politics hampered Budget consensus, says Godongwana
South Africa’s credibility among investors and ratings agencies will depend on whether the government meets the fiscal targets it has set, says Treasury.
Godongwana given 30 days to revise Budget after VAT reversal
The ANC and the DA present South Africans with different versions of what led to the decision to halt the increase.
South Africa already has wealth taxes, says Kieswetter
Almost half the revenue from personal taxes is derived from people who earn more than R1 million.
MPs insist on due process for Fica amendments aimed at avoiding grey-listing
Parliament’s finance committees last week decided they will not rubber-stamp National Treasury’s proposed amendments to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica) that are designed to prevent South Africa from being placed on the […]
Sars defends its handling of VAT refunds and taxpayer disputes
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has defended the way it handles VAT audits after this issue, as well as the time taken to resolve disputes, was raised by the Tax Ombud in […]
Finance MPs want action on Tax Ombud’s independence
Parliament’s finance committees have resolved that their respective chairpersons will engage directly with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on legislation to make the Office of the Tax Ombud (OTO) “more clearly” financially and operationally […]
FAIS Ombud rep levy pushes up an FSP’s total levy bill
As we reported last week, National Treasury has revised some of the levies that FSPs will have to pay to the FSCA in terms of the Financial Sector and Deposit Insurance Levies Bill. […]
R8bn in retained earnings wiped out in days
The 10 days of unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng in July last year wiped out the South African Special Risk Insurance Association’s cumulative retained earnings of more than R8 billion, incoming […]
Draft Financial Sector Levies Bill dubbed ‘increased taxation by stealth’
Robert Vivian, professor of finance and insurance in the School of Business Sciences at Wits University and a member of the Free Market Foundation’s Rule of Law Board of Advisors, holds nothing back […]
Treasury proposes reducing FSP levies
National Treasury has proposed lowering some of the levies that FSPs will pay to the FSCA in terms of the Financial Sector and Deposit Insurance Levies Bill, to reduce the impact on small […]
MPs ask Treasury for report on impact of new financial sector levies
Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance has tasked National Treasury with producing a report on how the Financial Sector and Deposit Insurance Levies Bill will impact consumers and small entities. Read: FSPs face paying […]
