The South African Budget Speech is a pivotal moment in the nation’s fiscal calendar, where the government outlines its plans for revenue generation, expenditure, and economic policies for the upcoming financial year. As the country navigates through various challenges, including economic recovery, and social development, the 2024 Budget Speech holds significant importance. Let’s delve into the key highlights unveiled in this year’s address.
Tax revenue collections for the 2024/2025 tax year are expected to total R1.73 trillion. This is R56.1 billion lower than estimated in the 2023 Budget.
Let’s have a look at some of the tax changes applicable to the 2024/2025 tax year:
INDIVIDUALS
The Commissioner has provided some relief for individuals as follows:
- There are no changes to the personal income tax brackets, rebates and medical tax credits from last year.
- The brackets for retirement fund lump sum benefits and retirement fund lump sum withdrawal benefits, as well as tax rates remain unchanged.
- A two-pot tier retirement system with effect from 1 September 2024. Effectively an individual will have access to a portion of his/her retirement funds, before retirement. The intention is to assist fund members when needed, whilst encouraging higher savings rates and ensuring preservation of the balance of savings to retirement.
COMPANIES
- Learnership tax incentives aimed at supporting workplace education, skills development and employment, will be extended by 3 years to 31 March 2027.
- Abuse of the Employment Tax Incentive via the use of aggressive tax schemes initiated by training providers was identified in prior years. To curb this, amendments were made to the Employment Tax Incentive Act, of 2013.
EXCISE DUTIES
The cost of alcoholic and tobacco products is set to increase as follows:
- One can of beer to increase by 14 cents;
- Single cans of cider and alcoholic fruit beverages go up by 14 cents;
- Wine bottles will cost an extra 28 cents each;
- Spirits, including whisky, gin or vodka, increase by R5.53;
- Cigars will cost more at R9.51 more per cigar;
- Cigarette packs will cost 97 cents per pack;
- A pipe of tobacco will cost an extra 57 cents; and
- An increase of R3.04 per millilitre, to the excise duty on electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems, known as vapes.
ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES
- The cost of petrol and diesel are set to increase, as the carbon fuel levy will increase to 11 cents per litre for petrol and 14 cents per litre for diesel effective 3 April 2024.
- Fortunately, there are no changes to the general fuel levy.
All the documents relating to the 2024 Budget Speech can be found on the National Treasury’s website. If you are unsure of how the Budget Speech affects you and/or your business, have a chat with us and we can provide you with more details. Book a call with us here: https://www.santosbiz.co.za/contact/
