This interview with Chris Axelson, acting head of tax and financial sector policy at National Treasury, will give listeners a window into how Treasury thinks when putting together a tax package. Our conversation provides invaluable insights into...
You are Here >
Home >
Taxing us via inflation
Last week was a very strange time to be a financial journalist. Journalists are usually given a copy of the budget before the Finance Minister tables it in Parliament. After spending the entire morning at Parliament writing our stories about the...
Should you be worried about prescribed assets?
The debate around prescribed assets grabs headlines from time to time, but when you cut through the hysteria there is largely a consensus that pension funds could be used to boost infrastructural development in South Africa. The important question...
Public servants can retire early – with conditions
In his budget address on 20 February 2019, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced an early retirement scheme for public servants whereby members of the Government Employees Pension Fund could take early retirement from the fund without penalties....
10 things you need to know about the Budget
How government will raise R36 billion in revenue: Spending will cost more Government has taken the step to increase the VAT rate from 14% to 15%, raising an additional R22.9bn to meet the fee-free higher education costs and reduce debt. This does...
Possible wealth tax
By Hilary Dudley, Managing Director of Citadel Fiduciary Proprietary Limited On 25 April 2017 the Davis Tax Committee (DTC) released a media statement calling for written submissions on the possible introduction of wealth taxes in South Africa....
Post downgrade, has the sell-off stabilised?
By Mokgatla Madisha, head of Fixed Interest at Sanlam Investment Management. The downgrade by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) of South Africa’s local-currency debt to one notch above junk (BBB-) and its minority foreign-currency debt to junk status...
Medium-term budget: the upshot of the fees decision
No fee increases, higher taxes In the medium-term budget policy statement, government committed to absorbing the 8% increase in university fees for students from households earning R600 000 or less a year. That means the majority of university...
Actuaries caution that zero fees may not be feasible in SA context
Actuaries working to find a solution to the problem of education costs in South Africa just don’t see free tertiary education as viable. The Actuarial Society of South Africa has cautioned that while all students should be able to access funding to...
Ratings downgrade: already priced into market
By Dr Adrian Saville, Citadel Chief Strategist During the course of 2016 we believe there is a very good chance that at least one of the major ratings agencies will downgrade South Africa to sub-investment grade. However, there are a number of...
Previous Articles
Why GEPF members are cashing in
If you are a government employee, you need to be wary of advisers who recommend that you resign in order to access your pension before retirement. Many commentators have attributed the spate of government employee resignations, just before retirement, as a result of...
Respect is earned, not demanded
Why finance minister Pravin Gordhan has received the public’s vote. An incident at the Budget Speech dinner, held by Old Mutual and Nedbank on the night of the National Budget address, epitomised for me the change that has happened in our country over the last few...
The ins and outs of making a UIF claim
Retrenchments are likely to become even more commonplace in the current economic environment as companies downsize and try to contain costs where possible. If you don’t have retrenchment insurance and need funds to tide you over until you are able to find another job,...
10 things you need to know from the 2016 Budget
A quick summary of some of the major points from finance minister Pravin Gordhan's 2016 budget speech. Future tax No increases to personal income tax or VAT this year but Minister Gordhan is looking for R15bn in new taxes next year and another R15bn the following...
Government employees are not affected by retirement reform
The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has issued a notice to members and pensioners that the new Taxation Laws Amendment Act will not affect their pensions or benefits. As a defined-benefit pension fund, the benefits of the GEPF are already taken as one-third...
Is the potential downgrade to SA’s credit rating overhyped?
By Nazmeera Moola, Economist and Strategist, Investec Asset Management After the events of mid-December last year (now euphemistically termed Nenegate), many investors – both within the country and from foreign ranks – are justifiably concerned about the fate of South...
What the Treasury musical chairs means for investors
By Dr Adrian Saville, Chief Strategist, Citadel On Sunday evening, President Zuma delivered a second major surprise to capital markets in the space of just five days by announcing that, after receiving numerous representations to reconsider the appointment of David...
The economy: what to expect in 2016
By Sanisha Packirisamy (Economist) and Herman van Papendorp (Head of macro research) at MMI Holdings. Global central banks to remain in the spotlight We are likely to see a further desynchronisation in major global economies in 2016 as a firmer growth outlook and...
Retirement reform going ahead
By Vickie Lange, Institutional Best Practice Specialist at Alexander Forbes Last year the tax changes to all retirement funds and the retirement benefit changes to provident funds (together known as T-day changes) which were originally scheduled for 1 March 2015 were...
Why the SARB should keep on nudging rates up
By John Loos, FNB Household and Property Sector Strategist There is little current pressure on the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hike interest rates this week, at least from a current inflation point of view. Global commodity...