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Budget Speech 2023/2024 Highlights

10 Mar 2023
Author: Neil Helps

The Budget Speech 2023/2024 has been delivered. Here is what you can look forward to for the year ahead.

Lower income tax rates, rebates for renewable energy, RAF refunds for food manufacturers

The obvious Elephant in the room at the Budget Speech was the current Energy crisis. Finance Minister Godongwana’s speech although layered by the energy crisis, provided some relief that there aren’t any major tax measures to be implemented for the year.

It was announced that Income Tax Rates have been reduced to help with the high cost of living. Taxpayers will as a result have a slightly higher take home pay.

Highlights from the Budget Speech

  • Businesses investing in renewable energy can claim 125% of the cost of that investment back from SARS.

  • Individual Home Owners can claim 25% rebate of roof top panels. The rebate is limited to a maximum of R15000.

  • Medical Tax Credits increase to R364 per month (first 2 members) and then R246 for the additional members on the medical plan

  • Higher Gross Tax Revenue declared by SARS allows government and taxpayers a reprieve

  • The RAF levies and fuel levies remain unchanged. Food manufacturers can claim a refund against the RAF levy when purchasing diesel – Now is the time to keep those logbooks up to date!

  • The National Minimum Wage has increased from R23.19 to R25.42 per hour.

  • Variable Remuneration received by Employees will be classified as variable income from March 2023 and Employers now have to pay over PAYE on these amounts.

  • The prescribed rate of reimbursive kilometer has been increased

  • SARS Auto-Assessment of taxpayers will happen again this year.

Budgets on their own aren’t enough to resolve the issues in an economy. You need to keep to budgets and plans and then have the nerves of steel to execute them. South Africa can’t afford to “kick the can” further down the road. What we need is economic revival so that small businesses can operate in an environment with less red tape, more rebates for job creation and access to resources needed. These SME’s are the one’s who should be focused on, they are ‘mini partners’ to government in that a lot of governments goals and expectations from society can be fulfilled by small business all while making more tax money for the SA Revenue Service.

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