South Africans Face Tax Increases as Revenue Collection Lags
JOHANNESBURG – South Africans have to brace for higher taxes next year as revenue collection falls short of estimates.
Bailouts for the state-owned power utility, broadcaster, airlines and arms maker – together with a failure to curb the public-sector wage bill and stem fiscal leakages – have sapped the state’s resources. Africa’s most-industrialized economy hasn’t expanded by more than 2% annually since 2013, damping confidence and resulting in the longest business-cycle downturn since 1945, weighing on tax income.
The National Treasury increased the value-added tax rate last year for the time in more than two decades and has also raised taxes for high-income earners to plug the widening budget deficit. That has added to the strain on consumption spending and economic growth.
Source: iol.co.za
