{"id":784807,"date":"2024-07-30T08:25:40","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T06:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=784807"},"modified":"2024-07-30T08:25:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T06:25:47","slug":"calls-to-scrap-tax-and-vat-on-two-items-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/784807\/calls-to-scrap-tax-and-vat-on-two-items-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls to scrap tax and VAT on two items in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many stakeholders are calling on the government to scrap value-added tax (VAT) on chicken<\/strong> and luxury taxes on smartphones<\/strong> to help poor South African households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These calls follow President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s opening of parliament address, where he highlighted interventions to assist poor households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that the Government of National Unity (GNU) will look to expand the basket of essential food items exempt from VAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will also undertake a comprehensive review of administered prices, including the fuel price formula, to identify areas where prices can be reduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, the South African Poultry Association (SAPA) urged the government to include chicken in the basket of essential food items exempt from VAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAPA said chicken is South Africa\u2019s most popular and affordable meat source, and making it VAT-exempt will help poorer households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The association said South Africa\u2019s chicken producers are doing everything in their power to keep chicken prices down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removing the 15% VAT from the chicken portions, which are most consumed by poor households, would bring immediate price relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAPA has long argued that targeted chicken products should be exempt from VAT because of their importance in the diet of millions of poor people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DA welcomed the South African Poultry Association\u2019s endorsement of adding chicken as another VAT-free essential food item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChicken is not only South Africa\u2019s most widespread meat but also an important source of cheap protein for millions of low-income families,\u201d the DA\u2019s Willie Aucamp said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe far-reaching impact of abolishing 15% VAT on these products, including chicken, cannot be overemphasised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will ease the burden on consumers while ensuring the availability and affordability of vital nutrients for the neediest population groups.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said exempting chicken from VAT is a decisive step towards addressing cost-of-living challenges and promoting economic equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Communications minister Solly Malatsi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Association of Comms and Technology has called on the government to scrap luxury taxes on smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The association argued that smartphones are a necessity to provide poorer South Africans with Internet access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Africa’s Communications Minister argues that smartphones are essential for today’s digital economy, yet they face luxury taxes,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New communications minister Solly Malatsi, who comes from the DA, has also called for interventions to reduce the cost of smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DA\u2019s Information and Communications Technology Policy has a strong focus on the affordability of smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe costs associated with devices, smartphones among others, have been identified as one of the primary inhibitors to internet usage,\u201d the DA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several companies, including Vodacom and MTN, have identified this gap in the market and responded with more \u2018affordable\u2019 devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The party said a factor that contributes to the cost of smartphones in the country and Africa as a whole is the high taxes that these devices incur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTherefore, measures which will cut taxes and reduce tariffs paid would make a considerable difference in addressing the cost problem,\u201d the DA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said the government can make smartphones more affordable by not classifying smartphones as \u2018luxury items\u2019 and thereby reducing taxation costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smartphones and other devices below a certain value could also, in total, be excluded from any form of tax or duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DA said, \u201cTaxes can also be removed or lowered on devices. This will increase the uptake of ICT use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Read: Big VAT changes for South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many stakeholders are calling on the government to scrap value-added tax on certain food and tech items to help poor South African households.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":701151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[20266,20317,20316,20275],"class_list":["post-784807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-president-cyril-ramaphosa","tag-solly-malatsi","tag-south-african-poultry-association-sapa","tag-value-added-tax-vat-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784807"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":784820,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784807\/revisions\/784820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}