By Rob Spanjaard, Director: Rezco Asset Management. In the fog of confusion caused by the chaos at Eskom, we lose sight of what the government has done really well in the area of power generation. Perhaps this could provide a model to get out of...
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Court mediation available to over-indebted consumers
Consumers in Gauteng and the North West who are not able to pay their debts and who are being taken to court by credit providers can now request the magistrate to refer the matter to court mediation. Magistrates will also encourage parties to go...
Do household savings really impact SA’s economic growth?
According to the National Development Plan (NDP), the South African economy needs to grow by 5.4% or more to create enough jobs to redress inequality and resolve the country's stubbornly high unemployment rate. In order to reach and sustain this...
Retirement reform myths: time for a rethink
The phased reform of South Africa's retirement sector may have a far-reaching impact on retirees – especially those who have not recently assessed their strategy. While many of the mooted retirement reforms will only be implemented next year, one...
The high cost of insuring your loan
Despite an investigation into the rates charged by credit providers for insurance, borrowers are still paying high rates for their credit insurance. If you were stuck for cash and needed to borrow R5 000 which you would pay back over just four...
Paying for overspending
We will spend R18 000 per taxpayer this year on government debt repayments As I listened to Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s budget speech it struck me that our government is in a very similar situation to most South African households. Over the...
The death of the independent adviser
Despite assurances to the contrary, the recommendations contained in the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) released by the Financial Services Board will make it more challenging for a financial adviser to operate as an independent. As the...
Concerns with eFiling and erroneous tax registration
Concerns about SARS eFiling have been raised in the first annual report issued by the Office of the Tax Ombud. In several cases bank details were changed on the eFiling system resulting in a refunds being paid into a third-party bank account. In...
What you need to know about the 2014 Medium-term Budget in 500 words
Expect unhappy public servants and higher taxes. Like most household budgets, government is running out of money and credit lines and the only choice now is to cut consumption and still try squeeze a bit more out of taxpayers. In the words of...
Time for the SARB to go on hold?
By Nazmeera Moola, economist and strategist, Investec Asset Management Consumers should be able to sleep somewhat easier in the next few months, as we have most likely seen the last interest rate hikes for 2014. This is partially due to the weak...
Previous Articles
The truth about retirement reform
Setting the record straight in terms of how the government's proposed retirement reforms will affect you. Over the last few weeks vested interests have tried to create fear and confusion around the proposed retirement reform. Between unions flexing their political...
What can South Africa and Brazil learn from each other?
As attention turns to the Fifa World Cup in Brazil, Geoff Blount, CEO of Cannon Asset Managers and a South African married to a Brazilian, compares SA and Brazil and looks for the best of each. While each BRICS country is unique, parallels are often drawn between...
Tax Ombud to give taxpayers a fair hearing
Taxpayers generally have the odds stacked against them when it comes to disputes with the South African Revenue Services (SARS). With wide-ranging powers provided to it under the Tax Administration Act, SARS is able to request information about taxpayers from third...
Emerging markets: it’s our turn
Jeremy Gardiner, director at Investec Asset Management argues that most of the economic pain we are feeling in South Africa at the moment is being felt more or less similarly across all emerging markets. My brother has just returned to South Africa after living in...
Do you qualify for credit amnesty?
Credit Ombud Manie van Schalkwyk unpacks the credit amnesty, and separates out the myths from the facts. In the lead-up to 1 April, there have been many misconceptions regarding the credit amnesty: exactly who will benefit, what information will be removed and even...
The tax relief farce
Each year I get particularly annoyed about the falsehood that we receive a “tax relief” – as if Minister Gordhan managed to eke out some extra money for cash-strapped taxpayers. So let’s put it in perspective. Based on last year’s personal tax revenue of R308bn, if...
Our million-a-day tax bill
With no particular surprises for taxpayers in this year’s budget, I decided to drill through some of those tax numbers to see exactly how much tax we are now paying. If you add all our taxes together, individuals account for over R700bn in tax revenue. To put that in...
Three cheers for an extended Gautrain
Geoff Blount, CEO of Cannon Asset Managers, takes an early look at investment opportunities that are likely to arise from the extension to the Gautrain network. Unlike the scepticism that met the announcement of the initial 80 kilometres of the Gautrain’s routes, the...
Minister Gordhan has a fan page
Pointers for Pravin Not everyone is going to be a fan of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan after he announces the budget on 27 February. This year will be a tight budget with less money to go around and undoubtedly higher taxes whether directly through income tax or...