Preliminary tax collection data is indicating that South Africa is making strides on its way to a sound financial recovery, through a combination of greater efficiency from South African Revenue Service and overall favorable economic conditions. Speaking at a press conference held in Pretoria on April 2nd, Minister of Finance of South Africa Pravin Gordhan revealed that there has been significant growth in national tax revenue figures, and the government is projecting increasing GDP growth over the next two years. Due to a ... Read More

A newly announced gambling tax could heavily damage South Africa’s horse racing industry and lead to job cuts across the country’s entire gambling sector. Over the weekend prominent figures from the South African gambling industry have stood up in protest against a newly announced tax on gambling winnings. The tax was announced on February 23rd by the Finance Minister of South Africa Pravin Gordhan in the latest government budge. The Minister revealed that winnings on gambling activity would now be subject to a ... Read More

The South African Government has initiated a ZAR 6.5 billion (approx. USD 945.2 million) tax allowance program, in the hopes of greatly boosting the national manufacturing sector and supporting the training for low skilled employees. On November 8th the South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies announced an ambitious new government project which will grant a range of tax allowances to national firms introducing and utilizing new or innovative manufacturing processes, or improving energy efficiency and reducing production waste technologies. The new ... Read More

South Africa is looking for new ways to increase tax compliance in both South Africa and other African nations, including targeting "aggressive tax schemes" by multinational companies, hiring “tax soldiers”, and investigating the possibility of harmonious tax policies across Africa. On September 20th at the 2010 Africa Tax Conference held in Mpumalanga, South Africa, Oupa Magashula, Tax Commissioner of South Africa, spoke in front of a panel of tax experts and tax department representatives of various African nations on the possible means of ... Read More

According to South African trade unions the national Government needs to set a new economic growth path based on several new taxes and a more active and aggressive role in the economy. Speaking on behalf of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) on September 14th Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of COSATU, said that the Government needs to follow a new economic direction in order to revive the currently “dysfunctional economy.” According to Zwelinzima Vavi, unemployment levels in South Africa are worsening and ... Read More

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has announced that the 2009 year broke records in tax return efficiency, filing and improved compliance. In a media release the SARS announced that the 2009 tax season had set “phenomenal” new records. The number of tax returns submitted by the November 20th deadline rose by 26 percent, exceeding 4 million for the first time. Individual tax return filing, including overdue 2008 returns, reached 3.9 million. Approximately 79 percent of individual tax payers filed their tax-returns ... Read More