On tax matters, Godongwana delivers the good, the bad and just a little bit of ugly

After a  brief contraction last year, where tax revenue fell to R1.3-trillion from the R1.4-trillion collected in 2019/20, collections breached the R1.5-trillion mark for the first time, shifting up to R1.55-trillion. 

The slow resumption of a “normal” economy after the lockdowns of 2020 saw a strong resumption in the sale of alcohol and tobacco, which pushed excise duties up almost 50% (49.4%) to R48.2-billion. 

Similarly, as employees returned to the office, the fuel levy collection accelerated 19% to R90-billion. These shifts gave National Treasury and the South African Revenue Service space to grant personal taxpayers a whopping R5.2-billion in tax relief. This is a welcome development in a  society where consumers trapped between flat or reducing salaries and rising inflation are increasingly turning to debt just to make ends meet. 

Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly that Godongwana put on the table: 

The good 

• Inflationary relief through a 4.5% adjustment to personal income tax brackets and rebates. The annual tax‐free threshold for a person under the age of 65 will increase to R91,250. Medical tax credits will increase from R332 to R347 per month for the first two members, and from R224 to R234 per month for additional members. So, if you have a family of four, your medical tax credits will increase by R600, moving from R13,344 for the year to R13,944;

• Expansion of the employment tax incentive. Initially introduced to encourage businesses to hire young people, the employment tax incentive will be increased by 50% to R1,500 a month from 1 March 2022. Unemployment peaked at 56.2% for the 20- to 29-year age group in the third quarter of last year. The two-year incentive will now move to R1,500 a month for the first 12 months of employment and from R500 to 750 a month for the second 12 months of employment. Even if companies only employ young people for two years to benefit from the employee tax incentive, that employee will have two years’ work experience to aid them when they go back into the labour market seeking employment; and

• Zero change to the fuel levy and RAF levy. For the first time in 32 years there will be no increase of the fuel and Road Accident Fund levies. In a landscape where the petrol price breached R20 a litre for the first time, motorists can breathe a sigh of relief. This concession alone will provide R3.5-billion in tax relief and means that fuel taxes as a percentage of the fuel price will remain below the 40% mark. In 2021, 34% of the petrol price and 38% of the diesel price went towards tax.

• The carbon price will increase to $20 per tonne by 2026. To move South Africa to net-zero emissions by 2050, the government plans to progressively increase the carbon price by $1 each year and the basic tax-free allowances will also be gradually reduced. The Budget Review documents point out that this approach is globally aligned. The World Bank’s High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices recommends carbon prices of $40 to $80 by 2025 and$50 to $100 by 2030. Lower minimum prices of $25 to $50 are recommended for developing countries.

• Increases from 4.5% to 6.5% in excise duties on alcohol and tobacco. This can hardly be labelled a surprise since sin taxes are inevitable each year. What is news though is the introduction of a flat tax of R2.90 per millilitre for both nicotine and non-nicotine vaping products. There will be further consultation via the 2022 Tax Laws Amendment Bill before this new tax is introduced from 1 January 2023.

• A 340ml can of beer or cider – 11 cents;


• A 750ml bottle of wine – 17 cents;


• A bottle of sparkling wine – 76 cents;


• A bottle of spirits – R4.83;


• A packet of cigarettes – R1.03;


• 25 grams of piped tobacco – 37 cents; and


• A 23-gram cigar – R6.77.

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