Finance Minister Tito Mboweni\u2019s 2020 Budget Speech was delivered against the backdrop of bleak economic growth and a growing fiscal deficit.<\/p>\n
As a result of these current issues many commentators anticipated wide-ranging tax increases.<\/p>\n
“However, as pointed out in National Treasury\u2019s Budget Review 2020, despite large tax increases over the past five years, the difference between projected and collected revenue has continued to widen,” said Delia Ndlovu, managing director of Africa Tax & Legal at Deloitte.<\/p>\n
“This is attributed to slow economic growth and a weakened South African Revenue Service (SARS). As a result, it is believed that further substantial tax increases are unlikely to be effective as it is conceded that South Africa already has a relatively high tax-to-GDP ratio compared to similarly developed countries,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Accordingly, government will not raise additional revenue from tax proposals for 2020\/21. Therefore, it seems clear that the strategy for addressing South Africa\u2019s burgeoning debt levels is focused on containing public expenditure rather than raising taxes.”<\/p>\n
Despite this change in strategy, there are a number of smaller tax changes which flew under the radar for many South Africans.<\/p>\n
The tax team at Deloitte outlined some of these changes below.<\/p>\n