The “most anticipated budget since 1994” was delivered by the Minister of Finance on Wednesday, 24 February. It was clear that Minister Gordhan’s focus was on restoring confidence in economic policy, avoiding a recession, and staving off a credit rating downgrade. Achieving these objectives necessitated an increase in revenue through tax policy measures of an additional R18.1 billion in the 2016/2017 year of assessment, and R15 billion in the subsequent two years of assessment. It also necessitated the expenditure ceiling to be lowered by R10 billion in 2017/2018 and a further R15 billion in 2018/2019.
Click here to read an overview of the 2016 Budget, where certain key aspects that may impact your clients from a personal tax perspective have been highlighted.