Standing Committee on Finance
The standing committee on finance adopted a number of key finance-related bills last week.
The adopted bills are the Tax Administration Bill, the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and the Taxation Laws Second Amendment Bill.
The Tax Administration Bill was tabled in Parliament in June this year.
It is designed to provide greater certainty in South African tax administration law.
Some of its objectives include:
• Put clear rules in place to cover the lifecycle of a taxpayer
• Protect the fiscus
• Ensure that tax payments are made where required
• To facilitate heightened levels of compliance
• Provide for consistency in terms of compliance
• Modernise tax products and processes
In a media statement released at the time, national treasury emphasised that the bill sought to introduce coherence into the law.
“The bill incorporates into one piece of legislation certain generic administrative provisions and attempts to eliminate duplication, remove redundant (provisions) and align disparate requirements that currently exist in different tax acts”.
The bill also aims to foster higher levels of compliance.
In terms of compliant taxpayers, the bill will serve to bring about better service and a lower compliance cost.
The bill will also seek to remove red tape and reduce the administrative cost for businesses and individuals.
A single register for all taxpayers will be set up.
The bill aims to bring about a better balance between SARS and taxpayers.
In essence, the bill seeks to “balance the powers and duties of SARS with the rights and obligations of taxpayers in order to enhance equity and fairness in tax administration by providing a single body of law that outlines common procedures in a transparent relationship”.
A key objective of the bill is the setting up of a tax ombud.
The Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and the Taxation Laws Second Amendment Bill were tabled in Parliament last month.
The two bills consist of a money bill and an ordinary bill covering administration. They give effect to most of the 2011 budget review tax proposals.
Some of the proposed amendments include:
• Further personal income tax relief
• A third rebate for individuals over 75 years
• Transfer duty relief
• Adjustments to monetary thresholds
• Strengthening of learnership and industrial policy incentive programmes
• Increase in turnover tax exemption threshold for micro-businesses
• Measures to promote South Africa as a gateway to the region
• New anti-avoidance measures
The proposed amendments are described as holding the potential to contribute towards inclusive growth and development.
The bills deal with a number of important issues including:
• Rates and thresholds
• Income tax-individuals, savings and employment
• Income tax-business
• Income tax-international
• Value-added tax
The bills are to be debated in the national assembly this week.
Sabinet Cape Town Office
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