"Tax morality an on-going agenda item"

Neill Hobbs, tax expert as well as co-founder and director of Anuva Investments.

Neill Hobbs, tax expert as well as co-founder and director of Anuva Investments, a Section12J VCC comments:

"Today Minister Gigaba spoke specifically on tax morality, an issue that has been germinating in South Africa in part due to an era of poor public governance. South African people are tired of paying tax to a state that has turned a blind eye to corruption for some time now. Our new president is making encouraging noises about stamping this out. But whether accountability will be enforced remains to be seen.

In the meantime, for many, avoiding tax in a legal manner is still a priority. Perhaps especially for those affected by the Minister’s announcement of a higher estate duty tax rate of 25% for estates greater than R30 million.

Treasury’s introduction of section 12J of the Tax Act back in 2009 paved the way for not only making investments that are tax-free, but also that encouraged support of SMEs. While we were hoping for more of the same i.e. incentivizing taxpayers to invest in SMEs, the Minister’s focus on better supporting South African SMEs through other funding and programmes is good news."