LUCKY NTIMANE: Higher alcohol tax is a lose-lose option for South Africa
09 March 2025 - 07:24
Anticipation is mounting as the clock ticks down to the budget, take two, on Wednesday. At the heart of the drama, ever since the deadlock over a proposed two percentage point VAT hike, has been the question of whether the government will resolve its fiscal dilemma by trying to squeeze more revenue out of an exhausted tax base, or focus instead on accelerating economic growth-enhancing reforms.
As Winston Churchill once put it: “For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”..
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