High political drama in the opening weeks of Parliament aside, most South African business and personal taxpayers are expecting tax hikes across the board from the finance minister’s budget speech on February 21. The government already faces a yawning budget deficit, aggravated by the need to find billions of rand to fund a new and unbudgeted-for commitment to free tertiary education. While some spending cuts could help to release funds, SA can expect a one to two percentage-points increase in VAT, steep hikes to fuel levies and sin taxes, higher capital gains taxes, and perhaps even personal income tax hikes for high-income earners. There is also likely to be more information on new taxes such as the carbon tax. Personal taxpayers, with the exception of low-income earners, should probably not expect the finance minister to adjust personal income tax brackets and rebates to fully cater for the effect of inflation — even if your salary is worth less as a result of inflation, you shou...
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